The 72nd Hunger Games
by CharlyMac
Summary: District 7 has quite an interesting reaping. Brother and sister reaped in the same games, knowing at least one will have to die? Adalyn Farron is reaped for the 72nd Hunger Games, where her life will change forever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Chop. Crash.

I sat on a ancient, decaying tree stump, just like I did every time my brother David and I were sent out to get wood. We had to earn some kind of income, and supply our father since he was a carpenter; only, I never cut down trees - I wasn't allowed. The first time I ever used an axe, about a year ago, I somehow managed to slash myself across my face and knock myself out. Apparently I was in the hospital for weeks, and ever since my parents were always too paranoid to teach me how to axe again.

Crack. Chop.

David was smacking the sharp blade of his axe into weak, half developed trees, yet still managed to make a huge commotion. I sighed dramatically, loud enough so that David would hear me,

"Oh, shut up, Adalyn," he snarled at me.

I, Adalyn Farron, had always acted like a drama queen on that most 'special' of days. Today was the day of the reaping. Everyone from the ages of twelve to eighteen were on the edge of their seats. I couldn't say I wasn't a little anxious, I'd had to get tesserae grain about twice now. Before I could get reaped, David had had to get it all. That meant he had a grand total of 38 slips of paper in the bowl full of names. He was 18.

David began chopping the fallen tree into smaller pieces. On the day of the reaping our parents always made us get a bundle of wood, just in case David got reaped. If he got reaped, my parents would have to purchase the wood. Therefore, our yearly reaping collection was incredibly important to them.

I dragged over the wooden cart I'd helped Dad build when I was 8. David had just turned 12 back then, so that's when our reaping collection began. Even then, David was good with an axe. The squeaky rhythms of the wooden wheels were soothing to me now. For six years I'd been listening to that sound. I let a soft smile play at my lips as I hauled up some wood on to the cart.

After filling the cart up as fully as it would allow, David and I heaved it back to our cosy, log cabin in the centre of District 7, where everyone lived. If you didn't live there, you probably ended up living in a tree. Unless you were a victor, obviously.

Our victor was Johanna Mason - everyone avoided her at all costs. Her deadly tactics in the games she competed in seemed to have horrified everyone - nobody had seen a tribute act so modest and weak, and end up being the most vicious victor anyone had seen in a long time. I kind of admired her. The way she portrayed it all - very skilful. I could safely say I was the only one who thought that in the whole of District Seven

Back at the house, Mom and Dad had changed into some tidy, formal clothes. The Capitol would be filming around District Seven, therefore they wanted their home to look welcoming. In a sort of unattractive way, it was. There was just an abundance of wood shavings everywhere from Dad working about the house.

Putting her hand out towards me, Mom thrust a jade dress into my chest,

"Put this on, Sweets," Mom put on a kind tone for me. If anyone could make reaping day seem a little merrier until the tributes were chosen, Mom could,

"Thanks," I mumbled, beginning to untie the red bandanna I had wrapped around my crimson hair, then headed off to my tiny bedroom. I peeled off my everyday clothes. A simple checked shirt, a pair of jeans, some mismatched socks and a pair of leather boots. They were all slightly grimy, since they hadn't been washed for a few days.

I pulled the green dress over my head, and let it fall into place over my body. It was beautiful, truly. The straps of the dress were wire thin, clinging against my shoulders. The dress itself was quite frilly at the hem, with a ribbon bordering it neatly. I walked over to the one mirror in the house that we owned - placed in my room, since nobody else really wanted the old thing - and stared into it. It was such a shame I wore an elegant thing like that on the saddest day of the year. Unfortunately, I didn't own a pair of shoes that were somewhat pretty. Instead, I slipped on a pair of boots that weren't covered in mud and grass stains, then polished them a little bit more to satisfy myself,

"Ready yet? The reaping starts in about twenty minutes," David walked in, wearing a navy blue shirt and a pair of black pants. Unlike me, David had deep coffee coloured hair, but the same sea green eyes as myself. He had somehow managed to comb it into a neat do,

"Yeah," I never acted like myself before the reaping. Ever since my first reaping when I had seen one of my class mates get chosen and then die in the games, I hadn't been able to stand in the centre of District Seven without feeling slightly nauseous. What was even worse, I could remember his name. Karl Walker. He was in my English class.

I shivered, then began following David and my parents out of the residence. It was mandatory that everyone attended the reaping, even adults. Unless you were actually going to die in an hour or so after the reaping, you had to go. That's how sick minded the Capitol is. How sick minded President Snow is.

The centre of District Seven was always peaceful, apart from today. Long faced teenagers stood in age blocks, a few glancing at their families with dread. Most of these people would never even get reaped, yet they were still terrified beyond thought mentally possible.

Standing in my age block of fourteen year olds, I noticed I was stood next to my6 close friend, Aimee. She looked up at me, her large brown eyes full of horror. She was one of the poorest people in District Seven, her name was in that bowl over 40 times. Mine was in there 8 times.

"Adalyn..." Aimee breathed, taking my hand. She was quivering - she honestly thought she was going to get reaped. I squeezed her hand back, and continued looking around at the other kids. This year, the twelve year olds looked even more shorter, skinnier and scared than normal. I remembered how ridiculously petrified I had been at that age, and even more so when Karl Walker was led to his death. That boy in my English class died in the first three minutes.

I heard a loud clang, it was 2 o'clock. I saw Johanna Mason and the Capitol representative of our district, Gregoire Feninskay, walk up on to the stage. Johanna was giving an icy stare to anyone who had the nerve to make eye contact with her, including Gregoire.

"Welcome, District 7, and Happy Hunger Games!" Chimed Gregoire. His voice was all messed up, it sounded like he'd shoved something up his nose. He showed off his Capitol teeth - perfect, straight and white as snowfall.

I squeezed Aimee's hand tighter as the Panem anthem played, and the same video reminding everyone of The Dark Days was displayed on the huge screens around the centre of the district. I noticed Aimee began weeping next to me, silently, but the tears were visible. When the clip ended, I eyed up the bowl full of names. 8 of mine were in there. Over 40 of Aimee's,

"Well, District 7. Now is the time, let us announce our female tribute for the 72nd Hunger Games!" Gregoire threw his hand into the bowl, making about half of the district flinch. He curled his long fingers around a single slip of paper. Aimee's hand was wrapped so tightly around mine, I could feel my blood flow slowly stopping in my hand.

Silence,

"Adalyn Farron!"

More silence.

That was me.

I couldn't believe it. Did that really happen? Was I about to become like Karl Walker? Was I hallucinating? I knew I wasn't when Aimee let go of my hand, and whispered, "I'm so, so sorry."

My brain told my feet to move, and they seemed to obey. My green dress was stuck to me with cold sweat - I was walking to my death. I knew it. I felt it,

"Up on the stage! Don't look so sad!" Gregoire put on a ridiculously fake smile, and an arm around me. I stepped on the stage, my whole body cold, "Any volunteers?" Gregoire asked merrily.

The crowd was silent. Of course,

"...then let's move on to the gentlemen!" Gregoire forgot my existence temporarily as he dropped his hand into the bowl full of male names. I stared at the floor, hoping the male tribute wouldn't be anyone I knew. It'd be easier that way, "...What's this? David Farron!" Gregoire yelled, "Brother and sister?"

My chin nearly hit the floor. The whole reaping had just gone from grossly appalling to the end of the world. My brother and I - we had to fight each other for our lives.

When David slowly forced himself up on to the stage, practically everyone in the District was at a standstill from horror. I didn't dare look at my parents. I knew that they were going to be in an even worse state than I was. No matter what, at least one of their children were going to die.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Peacekeepers led me into the Justice Building, and into a room by myself. There were two sofas, one of the Peacekeepers made me sit down. I did what they said, unable to react to anything properly anymore.  
The games changed everyone. And now they were going to change the world as I had known it for the past fourteen years.  
The door creaked open - Aimee ran inside with a tear stained face. Her chocolate coloured hair stuck to her cheeks,

"Adalyn I should have volunteered! I'm so sorry! I -"

"It's fine," I managed. Aimee crashed into me, wrapping her arms firmly around me,

"I don't want this to happen to you!" Aimee kept howling hysterically, which made tears begin to form in my eyes. I had the strength to hide it,

"Aimee, it's fine," I repeated, monotone. The games were already changing me. Aimee buried her face into my shoulder. On normal occasions I would have found this slightly disturbing, but right now it was comforting.

After a few more seconds like this, Aimee was asked to leave by a Peacekeeper. I kept fighting for the tears to stay away, but let the barrier down when my mother and father walked in,  
"Lynny, Sweets -" Mom choked between sobs - her eyes were sopping and her face was all muggy from tears. She threw her arms around me so securely I couldn't breathe - I didn't care. This was the last time I would ever see her. Dad rushed up and did the same - I was surprised to see him sobbing too, I'd never even seen him cry. Then again, who wouldn't be in a grieving mess when both your children were about to be sent into a death game?

I pushed my face into Mom's shoulder, putting one arm around each parent. I let tears fall down my cheeks and soak my Mom's dress - I knew she didn't care. We were all in such a disgusting state,

"Make it stop!" I groaned, holding on tighter. I didn't want to go. No,

"If we could -" Dad began, but ended up scrunching his face up and hiding it in my hair.

I was sobbing so hard my chest began to ache, and my eyes were stinging from the ridiculous amount of fluid I'd released. Never in my life had I cried so much - never in my life did I ever think I would,

"Your times up," A Peacekeeper informed us, emotionless. That just made me hold on even tighter, I could barely breathe, "Alright, let go now," I didn't know the Peacekeeper's name, but it was a woman. She began to pull me away,

"No!" I shrieked at her, shaking her away from me. This summoned three more Peacekeeper's, two of them grabbing my parents and another was pulling me away from them, "Mom! Dad! No!" I choked, snot dribbled down my face along with tears that fell in torrents. No. No!

"We love you, Lynny!" Mom screamed as the door slammed, leaving everything silent except my cries of pain.

I collapsed on the sofa, my face in my hands, and still cried,

"Your token," the Peacekeeper who had pulled me away from my parents placed something on my lap. Slowly, I removed my hands from my face and stared at the token. It was my favourite bandanna - green and black plaid. I let myself gaze at it for a few seconds, but just ended up snivelling even more. Nothing would ever be the same.

A few minutes later, Peacekeepers led me out of the room, and out of the building. I saw David turn up next to me - his eyes were swollen and red. I grasped his hand as we were hurried into a black car that would take us to the station - where a train would take us to The Capitol. Cameras flashed and microphones were shoved into our view, but David and I were too hurt to dare speak.

Dying didn't seem like such a bad possibility right then.

I had never been in a car before - they weren't exactly common here. Everything was in walking distance, and nobody could afford one. The sudden lurch forward made me feel sick, which caused me to cry more. David saw the tears trickle from my normally emotionless eyes, and I could see him realise that I couldn't take this.

When we were kids, I always had terrible grades in school. I got called dumb for it - which resulted in most of my grade bullying me. David had always said: "Don't ever show them you're upset, Lynny. That'll teach them. Punch them in the face if you have to" the next day, a kid called me a failure, so I did exactly what David said. I punched them square in the nose, making it bleed for two hours straight. I was only seven, and ever since then everyone had thought of me as an impassive, hard-hearted fool. Everyone except Aimee. Aimee thought my retaliation to the bullying was brave, so she followed me around. I soon accepted the fact she would never leave me - and we became best friends.

The older version of that David was nowhere near as brave as the eleven year old one. I was nowhere near as brave as the seven year old Adalyn.

We both took turns grieving into one another's shoulders until the station came into view, and we were once again rushed to our destination.

The station stank of pine needles - which just made me feel homesick already. The train in front of me was modern, perfect, streamlined. Obviously Capitol owned.

Gregoire Feninskay and Johanna Mason awaited us at the doors of the train. Gregoire was grinning not so enthusiastically, and Johanna just glared at us as if we were a nasty little pest,

"Welcome to the worst days of your lives so far, kids," she beckoned us in. She didn't need to - Peacekeepers forced us on to the train and clamped the doors shut behind us.

I take back my comment about Johanna. She's a completely heartless brat.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The corridors of the train were completely white, with enormous windows revealing the outside world to me. I could tell the glass was unreasonably thick, so no tribute could escape.  
Johanna led me to a room - presumably where I would stay for the duration of this train ride. She opened the door for me, then gave me a firm look,  
"Feel free to do whatever," she gave me a fake smile, then strode off. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to the chest of drawers by the wall. It was full of clothes - I immediately tore off my reaping outfit and pulled on a simple, lavender shaded shirt and a black straight skirt. A matching pair of flat shoes sat beside the drawers, so I slipped them on as well.

Images of the previous games were pounding inside my head. Bloody. Gruesome. No victor was ever the same. The anxiety I felt was so overpowering, I had to sit down on my bed and take deep breaths. Pain. Despair. No victor could live without the images replaying through their head for the rest of their lives.

I knew I didn't have the capability to win. I couldn't even swing an axe without injuring myself - what use was I? I bet myself that I'd be gone within the first three minutes, along with Karl Walker.

A sudden rock forwards told me the train was now leaving District Seven, and would be in The Capitol tomorrow morning. District Seven bordered The Capitol, which just made me feel disgusting. The Capitol is disgusting.

Staring out the window, I could see my home leave my view. Mom and Dad - they were going to lose me. I could only hope David would win the Games for me. Deep inside me, I knew he probably wouldn't. People from the higher districts would probably finish him eventually. Thinking of the higher up districts, I flicked on the TV to see the other reapings.

In Districts One and Two, it was considered an honour to fight in the games. People actually volunteered! A tall, quite handsome boy named Emertxe Cicero, and a smaller girl named Katya Trebol volunteered for Two, both of them were also fourteen. Two children my age were throwing themselves to their deaths with not a second thought, whereas I was dreading the Games so badly I couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds.

Nobody volunteered for District Three, a girl with a typical District Seven complexion of brown hair and brown eyes with pale skin was reaped. I didn't catch her name. Turned out she was also the same age as me, the male tribute was unfortunately twelve. Everyone's expressions were the same when a twelve year old was chosen, utter sympathy and horror. Anyone who was older than twelve generally didn't get the same treatment.

Both District Four's tributes were a few years older than me, along with Five, Six and Eight. Nine had an eighteen year old female tribute, named Hayleigh, and a thirteen year old male tribute. I couldn't quite remember his name at that point, but I remembered I quite liked it.

The remaining districts all had older, poorer tributes. In those districts, I heard people had their names in that bowl up to a hundred times. Just shows how unfair The Capitol is to the Districts.

An unexpected tap on my door stole my attention away from the screens. Gregoire was there - dressed in a bright red tuxedo with a black, buttoned up shirt. His deep blue hair was gelled back into an unusual, pointed hair style, looked like he also couldn't bear to be stood around in his reaping gear, which had been a bright green suit.

"Come along. Lunch is at the table!" Gregoire put on a fake cheery voice, obviously trying to lighten the mood. Only Mom could do that, remember?

Silently, I followed him out. I was actually rather famished, I hadn't eaten since dinner yesterday evening. Fiddling nervously with my top and looking down, I didn't notice David strolling up to me,

"Lynny," David held my shoulders, trying to smile. I knew he couldn't, and as much as I tried I couldn't either. We seemed to both read each other's mind, and just greeted each other in the most impassive way imaginable. I perched next to him at the table, slowly lifting up my head.

The food here - I couldn't name half of it. Whatever it was - it smelt divine. If one thing about these games was good, it was that I finally got to eat something other than a salad of some kind or a roasted squirrel.

Before I knew it, a plate full of rice and a delightful sauce was inside me. I'd never truly been full before - it was quite a weird sensation. I could tell David was the same,

"Thank you," I mumbled, the first proper thing I had said since stepping on the train. I instantly regretted it - why was I thanking the Capitol?

"It's a pleasure, my dear," Gregoire wiped his lips against a silver napkin. Johanna hadn't even turned up to the table yet, but nobody seemed to care.

After a five minute silence, I headed back to my room. It was only three thirty - but ou know what they say: time goes so slowly when you aren't having fun. Deciding to look around, I shut myself in the bathroom and explored the shower. There were about ten different buttons to press - so I decided to test it out. I took off my soft, Capitol clothes that made me look so much older than I was and hopped into the shower. Perfection was literally the word to describe it - hot, relaxing water poured over my head with a mixture of scented oils and soaps. At home, we had to heat water over a fire and pour it into a huge basin if we wanted to wash in the warmth, shampoo and any form of soap was rationed so ridiculously there was almost no point in having it at all. Time flew by - I must have stood in the shower for about an hour and a half before I finally stepped out. Another feature - when you stepped on to the floor next to the shower, warm air would blast you dry in an instant. I could honestly say it was the first time I had ever seen my proper hair colour - it was actually a lot redder than I thought. The constant work outdoors had left a few lighter streaks in my hair, which I rather liked. For the first time that day, I felt somewhat positive about something.

Walking out of the bathroom tangled up in towel, I noticed a woman sorting out my bed sheets,

"Oh, please don't, its fine," I objected. Then I saw it. The woman turned to face me, and I saw the uniform. She was an Avox - someone who had committed such a great crime, their tongue had been sliced out of their throat. Another revulsion The Capitol had created, "Oh, uh," I mumbled.

The Avox woman bowed and left, giving me a faint smile before shutting the door. I sighed, thinking about what crime she may have done while I pulled out a respectable shirt to wear.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

That night on the train, sleep was a rare gift. I couldn't tell you how many times I awoke from mortifying nightmares of the games. Swords. Forests. Deserts. Flesh. Blood. Death. Canons.

When morning finally came - I practically threw myself out of bed and dove into the shower. I once again turned on the relaxing water, along with about six different types of oils, soaps and shampoos. One of the scents that filled my nose smelt vaguely like pine needles, which allowed me to relax even more.

Then it dawned upon me - in a few hours, I would be stepping off the train into The Capitol. Some would say that would be a privilege - I think not. Fear arose inside me again. Could I not go anywhere without being terrified of something? Since yesterday afternoon I had literally been an emotional wreck,

"Hurry up and get out," I heard a voice - unmistakeably Johanna. I groaned to myself, and forced myself out of the damp shower and into the warm rush of air.  
I shoved open the door after I wrapped a towel firmly around me,

"What." I growled, putting on my emotionless, mean Adalyn. Johanna smirked,

"We'll be arriving in about an hour. Turns out we're ahead of schedule, it'll give you some time to rethink your strategies," Johanna slapped my cheek nonchalantly twice, before retreating.  
I was really beginning to hate on her, just like everyone else.

David and I were dragged to the same doors we entered the train through, holding one another's hand. My heart was beating ridiculously fast, and silently rage was building up inside me. I was about to enter the place that found these games entertaining. Revolting people.

Johanna and Gregoire appeared next to us, Johanna gave me a swift look before staring at the doors as they opened. Peacekeepers launched them open, and to my surprise there weren't actually any Capitol residents screaming after us. That was a relief.  
As we stepped off the train, Peacekeepers surrounded us, probably in case either of us tried to make a run for it. What would be the point? The station was completed walled off from anything; the only escape were some colossal glass doors in front of us. David and I stopped holding hands, staring around at the unfamiliar architecture. Practically everything here was pure white - I don't think that colour had even existed back in District Seven.

The glass doors opened by themselves - magic? I didn't have time to ponder as David and I were shoved into an elevator, not having a clue about what was going on. Johanna stood in front of us, her dark eyes flicking from one of us to the other,

"Alright. You're going to be meeting your stylists, be nice to them. Understand? Good," Johanna pat our shoulders, with a fake grin pasted across her face. I tried not to react, but I think I frowned slightly.

The seventh floor. The elevator doors opened up into a corridor - everything was white again, with black sofas and strange shaped tables dotted across this new room. Johanna and Gregoire sat David and I down on the sofa before sitting down next to us.

After sitting around in silence for about ten minutes, two Capitol citizens walked in through the elevator - one male, one female. The male had strangely pale skin with a fluffy, red comb over hairstyle that clashed with his dark blue suit; which I later discovered had tiny flashing lights all over it, which gave the illusion of the colour changing. The female had yellow hair - not blonde, yellow - and wore a matching dress. Her skin was covered in some kind of powder that made it have an amber tinge to it,

"David, Adalyn," Gregoire stood up, shaking both of the new people's hands, "This is Reymi," Gregoire gestured to the female, "And Alberto," Gregoire then gestured to the male, who smiled enthusiastically in return. I decided I liked him,

"Adalyn, I'll be your stylist for your time in The Capitol," Reymi stepped towards me, and placed her hand out. By her tone, I could tell she was actually quite timid. I took her hand and forced myself to smile, but I'm guessing it just looked like I was pulling a strange face since Reymi looked sort of disappointed afterwards,

"You'll spend your afternoon with your stylist, getting prettied up for this evening. No exceptions. Anyways, better head down to lunch," Johanna stood up abruptly, a scowl still the natural expression on her face. Stopping in the elevator, she waited for us to follow.  
Reluctantly, I did. I knew I had to or someone would do something to me, or worse, Mom and Dad.  
****

The second I stepped into the dining area, about 30 different foods were in sight, all of them being set in a beautiful colour arrangement. Gregoire didn't look too bothered, but I could see David, mine and even Johanna's expressions suddenly look intrigued. We seemed to be the first people to enter the room, so we claimed the end of the giant table and began piling food on to our glass plates.

As the meal went on, other tributes entered the room. I noticed the two volunteers from Two began befriending the other careers - both from One and the male tribute from Four. Typical, there was going to be another career pack this year. We were all well and truly doomed.

The twelve year old from District Three sat solemnly next to David, since nobody else seemed to want to speak to him. David pat the kid on the back,

"Hey, you're looking a little down," David said in a kind tone, the same one Mom always did. The poor kid looked up at David, who stood at six foot three. If I didn't know him like I did, I'd be pretty alarmed, "What's your name?"

"Rhett," the boy replied in a little voice, before looking at the food. I wasn't quite sure what District Three was like, since it was one of the higher districts I had assumed they'd be well off. To my surprise, he grabbed a huge piece of bread and began wolfing it down. Either he hadn't eaten anything on the train, or food was considered a luxury in District Three. David smiled, and took the other piece of bread that was on the shelves of food.

David had always had a soft spot for younger kids, and always managed to find a way to make friends with them. I had a feeling he'd do that with Rhett.

The tributes from the higher districts and their mentors were all getting along wonderfully at the other side of the table. I noticed the District Three girl had joined them, and was laughing along with Emertxe and Katya, who were folding the napkins to look like objects,

"Can I sit here?" I heard someone say from behind me. When I turned to see their face, I saw the female tribute from District Four. Her finger was pointing at the chair next to me,

"Sure, sure," I smiled, thinking she'd smile back. Instead she just sat down, didn't dare make eye contact with anyone, and began picking at some of the food from the shelves. I couldn't remember her name, and I didn't particularly want to ask her.

The meal wasn't too interesting for me - David and Rhett were telling one another about their Districts, Gregoire and Johanna were also having a conversation. The girl from Four didn't look at anyone, and most other people hung around with their District partner or the Careers. I wasn't allowed to head off until everyone had finished their meal, and as soon as they did I almost sprinted to the elevator to get away from the other tributes.

David stood next to me, actually smiling,

"Rhett is really nice, we should ally him," David whispered in my ear. I couldn't stop myself from feeling nice when he'd said 'we',

"David, we don't know if he's useful," I warned. David frowned,

"What does it matter if he's 'useful' or not? We're all going to die as it is; nobody has a chance against the Careers! So, you know, let's just have a nice time while we still can," David turned away, stepping into the lift. I squeezed in after Johanna and Gregoire, annoyed that David had reacted the way he did. Sure, we were going to die, but I didn't want to have to think about watching people I cared about die right before me.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I was forced to strip out of my clothes and into a white robe before entering the room where I would be made beautiful - according to Gregoire. In my honest opinion, I really didn't want to look anything like anyone from The Capitol. They all sort of freaked me out,  
"Come this way, Adalyn," Reymi led me into a room that was next to the entrance of the seventh floor, where there were two more people sitting down chatting. One was a male, who had electric blue hair with a single red streak in his fringe. I noticed he also had orange eyes, which was disturbing if you looked at them for too long. The other one was a female, who looked more ordinary with her jet black hair and plum shaded dress suit,

"District Seven," the male stood up, beamed at me, "Well, she's a pretty little thing to work with!" He began untying my robe, which I found incredibly uncomfortable,  
"Uh, what are you doing?" I stepped back, holding the robe against me,  
"Oh, just seeing what we have to work with, don't worry Adalyn," Reymi reassured me. Okay - a guy was about to observe me whilst I was naked. Does anyone else find that perverse?

I did as they wanted, and let the robe drop to the floor. I definitely didn't want to do that ever again.

After they were done 'inspecting' me, the robe was back on and I was forced to lie down on a bed-like object, which was then raised up. The three stylists stared at my arms and legs,

"Oh, by the way," the man interrupted my thoughts, "I'm Kear, and this is Hana, I assume you already know Reymi,"

I nodded, not wanting to speak to Kear after that disturbing incident before. Not knowing what they were doing, I watched as Reymi, Kear and Hana pulled out long strips of what looked like wet paper and placed them on my legs,

"This might sting a little-" Reymi warned, before I heard a gigantic ripping sound,

"Ow!" I yelped, trying to see what they were doing. Kear was rubbing a cold fluid on my legs, and then I realised they were removing the hair. Before I could object, the same process was repeated wherever hair was present that wasn't on my head.

I realised the cool liquid stopped the stinging, which was pleasant. It also smelt like lavender, not as nice as the ones that occasionally popped up around the place at home, but still lavender all the same. When the process was complete, I was moved to another chair that was surrounded by shelves of makeup and bottles of stuff I'd never heard of,

"District Seven - the lumber District. Want to know what your outfit is inspired by?" Hana began brushing my hair behind me, when I didn't reply she happily said, "Trees, of course!"  
Wonderful. I was going to be a tree.

I wasn't allowed to look at myself in the mirrors until after I was completely ready, so I had no idea what my makeup was going to look like or how my hair was styled. I knew it had gone from a curly jumble to long strands of straightened crimson with a few added golden streaks, but that was it. For another hour or so, leaves, butterflies and glitter were painted all over my arms and legs, along with my nails being painted a metallic copper colour with a few green swirls. That was when I realised - these people were perfectionists. They spent hours making me look presentable for The Capitol, only I had a feeling it was because they were frightened of what would happen to them if nobody liked the outfits,

"Alright, shut your eyes now," Reymi instructed, taking my hand. I did as she said, and was slowly led to a different place in the room, where the robe was taken off me. I knew they would be putting the outfit on me, and then I'd be able to see their masterpiece. First of all, I felt silky underclothes against my skin which were then tightened up - I assumed they were trying to make me look a little fuller than normal, since I was quite skinny.

As soon as the outfit was put on, I knew it was a dress. The inside of it was soft against my skin, yet still quite tight like the underclothes,

"Open your eyes," Kear, Hana and Reymi all stood behind me as I opened my eyes.  
The mirror in front of me didn't show me - but a beautiful girl. The dress she wore was a deep shade of gold - the fabric had darker lines and lighter lines to try imitate the texture of a tree trunk. The dress itself was rather long, only it cut open at each side to reveal her legs from the knees down. The shoes she wore were green, obviously symbolising the grass and moss that often grew beneath a tree, with a few tiny butterflies sitting on even smaller flowers. Her hair had tiny leaves strung creatively into it, fake obviously, and some green and gold streaks had been put in as well, temporarily,

"Wow..." I looked up at her face, seeing her eyelids had been painted the same shade of green as my eyes, making them stand out even more. A tiny butterfly had been painted beside her left eye, "Reymi, Hana, Kear... it's beautiful, thank you," I continued staring at the dress,

"No problem, it's our job to make you look breathtaking," Hana replied. She then led me out of the room and into the entrance, where David stood. His theme had been trees as well, he wore deep green sandals and brown pants that also had a tree pattern. It appeared his stylists hadn't given him a shirt; instead they'd painted on the pattern of a tree to his bare chest. Quite honestly, I found it disturbing knowing my brother was walking around without anything covering his top half,

"You look great," David commented. I wasn't sure if he was still annoyed about my Rhett disapproval,

"The girls are gonna like you," I replied, feeling too modest to say thanks or anything. David pouted slightly, before our attention was focused on Johanna,

"I'm your only hope of surviving, so quite honestly, if you don't do what I say you're doomed. Listen to me if you want everyone you love to be safe," Johanna paused, "Your family, act like it. Praise one another ridiculously, comment on one another's strength. That's what The Capitol will want, and I'm sure as hell they'll sponsor you if you put on a good show," she seemed to be scrutinizing our outfits before ending her speech, "Alright. Let's head down to the chariots," Johanna once again led us into the elevator, Gregoire trailed along behind us.

Slam. The elevator doors shut,

"What's the point in sponsors, the Careers are going to win this thing anyway," David whispered in my ear as we descended. I didn't react to him, but I knew what he meant. District One and Two had so many victors, and everyone seemed to worship them. Mentors had to be chosen from about 20 other victors. I couldn't believe anybody actually wanted to do that to themselves,

"Something is better than nothing, David," Johanna joined in without permission. Neither David or I dared to retort back.

The elevator stopped, and the doors gradually opened. I saw horses being strapped to different chariots - each had a different theme and number painted on the side. District One had a pure white chariot with perfectly groomed stallions that matched perfectly with the pure theme, District Two's chariot was completely black with a city skyline etched into it with glowing lights. The horses pulling it were also black, with tiny lights tied into their manes.

My eyes moved along the line until I saw the District Seven chariot - made of a chestnut coloured wood and engraved with tiny leaves. In a wonderful shade of gold stood two horses, both attached to the chariot by wooden poles. It didn't take me long to notice my dress was the exact same colour as the animals,

"Alright you two," I saw Reymi, Kear, Hana and Alberto with two more of David's personal stylists standing by the carriage along with Gregoire and Johanna, "We'll be in the crowd, remember, don't disappoint. Complement each other, act natural, and they'll love you," Gregoire finished, then kissed my hand and shook David's, "Good luck,"

As the eight of them left to join the crowd of Capitolists, I realised the whole of Panem would be watching. Mom and Dad would be watching. Aimee would be watching. Would it be strange seeing me on a screen so close to them, when realistically I was so far away?

I didn't have time to answer the questions, as the chariot began to move ever so slowly out of the building we had been inside, and into the streets of The Capitol.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The whole world seemed to be cheering as District One's carriage trooped up to the walkway up to the stage. Lights shone on them and music blasted as District One's tributes descended out of their chariot. The two tributes held hands, and began waving. The many screens displayed their names - the male tribute was called Cipe Emosewa and the female was called Evie Sola. Both were dressed in pure white - happy as happy can be. They continued waving as they walked up to the stage.

Emertxe and Katya stepped out of their chariot next. Emertxe wore a black suit with a city skyline made out of flashing lights, his dirty blonde hair was gelled neatly back so you could see his whole face. Katya wore a deep red dress, her short brown hair had been lengthened with some kind of artificial hair and was curling around her shoulders effortlessly. I couldn't quite see how her outfit was related to District Two, the district of masonry, until I realised her dress had a brick pattern. Both followed after Cipe and Evie.

District Three blew everyone away - their chariot was black, with cogs and glowing wires and even sparks flying. The two tributes were dressed identically, both wearing black, one pieced suits that looked like the insides of a machine. They glowed eerily, which caused everyone to ooh and aah. I discovered their names were Astrophel Dahlquist and obviously there was Rhett, Rhett Martsen. Both of them worked with computers so apparently that was where the glowing idea came from.

The shell theme of District Four was rather beautiful - the chariot looked like a giant shell, and was attached to the horses with seaweed-like poles. I noticed the quiet girl looked rather emotionless in her coral coloured gown that swept across the floor, her name being Anise Tamarind. Her shady blonde hair had been swept up into a ponytail type hairstyle, with a fake seaweed ribbon tied into it. A shell rested neatly on her head, complementing her gray eyes. The male tribute was called Coburn Marlowe, he was dressed quite the opposite with no shirt on, a pair of deep ocean blue shorts and Roman styled sandals, along with a crown made entirely of shells. He held a trident, which was the main weaponry used for fishing apparently.

The next chariot looked as if there was a storm brewing - District Five was the District of power, and the theme was apparently lightning. The two tributes, Sophia Kelan and Marcus Pheln were also in matching outfits - the fabric was animated to look as if there was lightning shooting across a night sky. It was rather beautiful to watch, quite honestly.

District Six had gone steam punk - the female tribute had a pair of those old fashioned plane goggles sitting on her head, with a leather jacket and dress complimenting a pair of sturdy leather boots to match. The male was the same, only with pants and a half buttoned up shirt. I didn't catch their names as our chariot pulled up to the walkway.

David stepped off first, and helped me down. We had to harmonize each other, so David twirled me around and let me walk forward a little further, causing the crowd to cheer. David bowed, then joined me on the walkway,

"Thanks," I whispered, then grabbed his hand,

"You're welcome, let's get this show on the road," he whispered back, then put on the biggest grin he could manage. I copied, then began waving to the crowd, just like District One had done. The crowd went insane, but not as much as it had with District Three. As we reached the stage, a few of the other tributes scowled at us. I tried to ignore them, and continued watching the next few districts enter.

The District Eight theme was patchwork, as they were the district of textiles. Both tributes looked rather like rag dolls and they miserably stumbled up on to the stage. They both looked about sixteen, and both were extremely skinny and pasty looking. Working in a factory full of fabric and filth must have really knocked it out of you.

The district of grain, District Nine, was all dressed up in beige and yellow. The female had grain sticking out of her hair, with a dress that opened up at her legs to reveal tights that had a grainy pattern. Her name was Hayleigh Belnovah, and she was the oldest tribute this year, also being one of the most beautiful. Her natural brown hair was perfectly straight, so had only been tied up into a bun to give her a very ordinary look. The male tribute, who I now remembered was called Dylan Ramez, was wearing a loose shirt with matching pants tucked into a pair of leather boots. His once long, black hair had been pushed into a smart hairstyle that suited him exceptionally well. As he stepped on to the stage, I noticed he had been staring at me. I quickly turned away, feeling self-conscious.

District Ten was quite hilarious - both tributes were dressed up as cows. I could tell both of them were extremely embarrassed, their faces were a noticeable hue of pink. The Capitol was roaring with laughter when the tributes stepped up on to the stage.

Flowers was the next theme for District Eleven, both of the tributes were seventeen and looked incredibly graceful in their flourishing clothing. Greens, browns, and reds were the main insignia, along with some flower headdresses. The female tribute twirled before walking on the stage, which made the crowd begin screeching joyfully.

Every year, District Twelve was the laughing stock. This year was no different - both tributes were completely naked with some coal dust smothered sluggishly on their skin. Everyone laughed - even I did, to be honest. I knew it was mean, but what type of stylists did they have? It was hilarious to think someone would actually dress someone in nothing but coal dust.

Every district was now on the stage, and I could see most of them definitely had more food and a better life then I had. Some of them looked ridiculously strong - like Coburn from District Four.

Then it dawned on me - I was probably quite strong, I'd been pulling that cart for years on end.

As Caesar Flickerman stepped on the stage to welcome us all, I pondered about how strength could be beneficial in the Games.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Back on the seventh floor, I was undressed, showered, and sent downstairs for dinner. Other tributes were there, and were standing around talking. I'd left before David, Gregoire and Johanna, so the only person I could probably speak to was Rhett. Looking around, I noticed he hadn't arrived yet. I took momentary looks at each tribute, accidentally making eye contact with Emertxe. I almost instantly looked away, slightly shocked that my existence had been acknowledged by a Career. Turning around abruptly, I didn't notice the boy from District nine behind me,

"Woah - sorry!" I apologised quickly, a little flustered,

"No worries," he replied, "Adalyn, right?" I remembered his name was Dylan. Though he was a year younger than me, he was still the same height as I was, possibly taller,

"Yeah," I nodded, suddenly feeling rather shy. Also, I didn't really want to converse with someone who might be dead in the next 2 weeks,

"I'm Dylan, nice to meet you?" He stuck his hand out, which was about twice the size of mine. For a thirteen year old, he was sure tall and muscular,

"Um, yeah," I took his hand and shook it awkwardly, wondering if he was going to try and threaten me some time soon. Instead, he ruffled his shaggy, black hair and began glancing around aimlessly,

"Yeah, see you around, Adalyn," Dylan smiled uneasily, then walked off to find his district partner, most likely.

I wasn't supposed to do that. No getting attached to anyone, no allies. I decided upon it there and then, not even David would be my ally. As if on cue, David, Gregoire and Johanna entered the room, chatting noisily together. I turned away from them, and made my way to the table.

Once again, masses of food were stacked on shelves - probably enough to feed the whole of District Seven for a week. Taking all the food I sought, it made me feel guilty that they couldn't enjoy this with me.

Looking around, all the same people as before were hanging around together. Most of the Careers and Astrophel were at one end, and anyone else just sat around with their District partner. Once again, the girl from Four, who I now knew as Anise, sat next to me,

"Alright, you two," Johanna stole my attention away from Anise, "Tomorrow, you have group training. Either of you got any good skills?" Johanna stared at David, who shrugged,

"I can use an axe," David answered modestly. He ruffled his hair, like he always did when he didn't want to brag,

"Are you kidding me? Every District Seven can use an axe. Everyone expects you to use that!" Johanna grumbled, which left David shocked. His one valuable skill and he couldn't use it because it was 'predictable', "And you, Adalyn," Johanna gave me the same stare,

"I can't use an axe," I replied simply, then smirked. I then wedged my fork into something I didn't know the name of, only knowing that it tasted superb, "but I'm strong?" I added,

"Well, you're a District Seven, everyone in District Seven is strong. God, you're all the same!" Johanna complained, then put on an expression that looked as if she was thinking hard. I rolled my eyes, and continued eating. It was apparently difficult to please Johanna,

"How about we just wait and see what they can do?" Gregoire suggested. He'd been so silent, I'd almost forgotten he was even there,

"Guess that's the only bearable option. Anyways, I'm off," Johanna left the table rapidly, not caring if nobody else had finished,

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed... Hmm... Every morning?" David whispered to me, then chuckled,

"Couldn't agree more," I smiled, shovelling some more food down my gullet.  
I was avoiding my plan - I told myself to stop. I couldn't get fond of anybody.

After dinner, I went straight to bed. It was only seven thirty, but I just couldn't tolerate anything else. I pulled the cool duvet over my body, and forced myself to fall asleep.

Blood lay on my hands. David's corpse was motionless beneath me - the boy from District Four held his trident up high. Blood caked the three points,

"No!" I shrieked, and began pulling out a weapon. An axe,

"You can't even use an axe, stupid District Seven, what a failure. You think you can kill me with that, when your dear brother couldn't? It makes me laugh. Laugh so hard," he tormented, and began aiming his trident. I lifted the axe above my head, and aimed as well.

Before he could do anything, I threw the axe, which landed square in the middle of his chest.

Blood seeped into his shirt, there was a clank as the axe fell to the floor. The gaping wound - I couldn't look without feeling bile rise in my throat. Coburn collapsed to the floor, just as I heard a canon. I had just killed someone. And someone had just killed David.  
I sat up abruptly, realising it was all a nightmare. Cold sweat covered my body, the duvet stuck to my legs. The night dress that I had on was all tangled up around me,

"Just a dream, just a dream," I mumbled, leaning back into the warmth of the bed, shivering.

I could never kill someone, never. If it was so painful in a nightmare, it would be even worse in reality.

I shut my eyes again, trying to reflect the happy memories at home. It just hurt even more to know I'd never make any more of them.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Morning came slowly - I couldn't tell you how many times I woke up that night. Luckily, most of the time I didn't dream at all.  
In the shower I went - the many products fell on my bronzed skin. I would have wished for showers to have been like that at home, but what would be the point? I was never going back. Thinking of this made the shower suddenly seem bitter - I stepped out, welcomed by the same rush of air that was on the train.

When I ambled out of the bathroom wrapped up in a towel, the Avox woman had laid out some clothes for me. I gave her a sympathetic look,

"Thanks," I whispered. The Avox woman smiled, then exited, leaving me to change into my new garments.

The clothes she laid out looked like the type of thing someone in training for the army would wear - a large, thick soled pair of boots with some camouflage combat trousers and a black vest top. I noticed on the back of the shirt there was a number seven with two axes crossing over beneath it, the symbol of our District. The same symbol was on one of the pockets of the combat trousers, and the back of the heel on the boots. Then I remembered - group training was today. Today I would have to find out what I could actually do to survive more than a few minutes in the arena.

As I stepped out of the room, Johanna had already made her way to the elevator. Always seemed keen to lead us places, didn't she? I swore I saw Gregoire roll his eyes, which made me chortle,

"Morning," David sent me a kind look, then pat my shoulder. I would have done the same back, but I had to keep my distance as much as possible from now on.

Breakfast was the same as the previous days - shelves piled high with so many different foods I couldn't name. I knew I'd have to eat a lot or I'd get tired out in training, so I piled a few pieces of toast on my plate and sipped on some hot chocolate. Once again, Anise sat next to me, and Rhett sat next to David. I was kind of envious that David had already formed a companionship with someone, someone who could help him survive in the arena. That is, if both of them even got past the first huge fight...

"You two better get working in training, you have two hours of it to sort yourselves out," Johanna said sternly, before shoving a croissant in her mouth, "because, face it, if you can only use an axe, you're kind of dead,"

David glared at Johanna, who then glared back at him. I didn't dare say anything,

"You used axes!" David spat, scowling ferociously,

"And? At least I put on a good show! You have no idea what it's like in that arena, and you won't be able to come crying up to me when you finally do! So suck it all up and do what I say, because I'm your only hope!" Johanna snarled back, her brow creased in anger. Rhett sat awkwardly next to David, picking at his food,

"You aren't doing a very good job of being my 'only hope'," David muttered, which Johanna either didn't hear or pretended not to.

I didn't dare involve myself, instead I chewed on my toast and waited for training to approach.

"Alright, tributes this way," a Peacekeeper pointed all twenty four of us down a corridor - where even more awaited us. At this point, we were made to line up in District order, the female going first,

"Good luck," David whispered in my ear, then brushed his hand against my bare arm. I acted as if he hadn't - I wanted him to be angry at me. My plan failed, since he didn't seem to be when we entered the training area.

The room was huge - different stations were dotted around the room. One station had bows and arrows, spears and a pile of axes with targets, the activity there being obvious. Another had a man who stood in front of ropes and wires, which I assumed was for traps and snares. A woman stood at a table that seemed to have a variety of different plants, with the one next to them having various paint-like materials in pots. Two more of the areas had weights and swords, with dummies that I assumed you had to demonstrate any fighting skills you possessed on. The final one was an obstacle course, with dummies and pretend rocks or logs you had to leap from. Nobody knew what the environment would be in the arena - hopefully the training gave some hints,

"You have two hours, today," the head game maker - known as Seneca Crane – proudly told us, "And another four hours two days before you enter the arena. In between that there will be private training. Go!" Seneca allowed us to choose any training post, I watched as the Careers and Astrophel all headed to the same station - the one with bows, arrows, spears and axes. Emertxe lifted the bow he was holding, looking professional as he aimed. Cipe was cheering him on - and then I saw it. He shot the bow, which hit the bulls eye in a flash.

I was dead, dead meat if I ever had to fight against him.  
Training almost seemed pointless, what with the Careers completely owning the place - but I forced myself to contribute to the training, and dragged myself over to the obstacle course. Nobody else was there, since most people had gone to the weights or the bows, arrows and axes,

"Hello!" An instructor welcomed me, smiling broadly, "Nice to see someone here, ready to go?" the instructor, who was a young man, didn't look mean at all. His cheerful aura was quite pleasant,

"Uh, yeah," I garbled. The man smiled,

"Pick a weapon, and I'm Thom, by the way," the instructor pointed at a box full to the brim of weapons, one of them being an axe. Though tempting, I took two daggers instead, "Happy with that? I'd thought you'd pick the axe," Thom seemed to be stereotyping,

"I'm not allowed to use axes," I simply stated, heading to the beginning of the course before I could see his reaction. Thom strided to what looked like a control panel,

"Alright, ready?" He hovered his hand over a large, red button,

"Yup," I grasped the daggers tightly in my hand, getting my stance exact on the starting podium,

"Go!"

Almost instantly, a dummy was flung at me from the side. Not knowing what to do, I dove my dagger into its chest, then threw myself forward. I landed on another podium, which I think was meant to resemble a rock as when my feet smacked against the rough edge, it hurt. That time, nothing hit me, so I sprinted along to the next stage.

To my horror, fire nearly striked me as I jumped over what was supposed to be a log. I fell on the cushioned floor, beginning to hyperventilate.

I hated fire. It terrified me - ever since I was six I had despised the stench of smoke and feared the flames it erupted from. My old home had burnt down when I was six - Dad had forgotten to put out our fireplace for the night, and since our houses in District Seven are all made of wood, a spark or loose ember had caused a raging fire in minutes. I awoke to a burning bedroom, fearing I would die. Luckily, David had saved me before I died a horribly painful death.  
Broken from my thoughts, Thom helped me up,

"You okay there? Maybe you should try somewhere else..." Thom took the daggers off me, which felt so wrong. He was taking weapons from me, something I hadn't expected anyone to ever do,

"Yeah..." I agreed, searching the room for David. He and Rhett were at the station with the paint-like materials, which was apparently camouflaging. Both of them were laughing along happily, painting what I think was supposed to look like bark on their arms. How could they be laughing? They were training to survive.

I turned my gaze to the Careers, who were still at the same station. I saw the other District Two, Katya, chucking spears at the targets. Practically all of them were on bull's eye, which unnerved me ridiculously,

"Hey," I heard a familiar voice interrupt my trail of though. Dylan stood behind me, holding a weight in his hand, "Care to join?" Dylan lifted the weight up and down fluently, as if the huge weight he was carrying was a feather. I didn't understand how picking grain all day in the brilliant land that was District Nine could turn you into something like that.

I knew, as a District Seven, I would naturally be quite strong. I also knew if I went off with Dylan, we'd end up starting a conversation. If that happened, we might become friends.

So stupidly, I followed him to the weights.

As I guessed, pulling that cart around for six years had made me quite strong. Most of the weights were easy to lift; only when it got to the ridiculously huge weights did I fail. Dylan didn't seem to be able to lift those either,

"You're pretty strong, you know," I started conversation, placing a weight back on the floor,

"So are you, for a girl," Dylan replied, smirking. He ruffled his black hair again, which I had then noticed was a very common habit of his. Smiling back, I eyed up the swords area,

"Should we try?" I asked, pointing at the area next to us. Dylan looked up at me with his large, golden eyes,

"Sure," he replied, jogging over. Swiftly, he picked up a sword and began swinging it around,

"You're gonna knock someone out with that," the instructor informed, stopping Dylan, "Plus, you're holding it wrong. Let me show you," the instructor walked up to a dummy, and thrashed it to pieces with the sword. Small particles of the dead dummy fell to the floor, and due to the perfection that was The Capitol, a new dummy popped up right out of the floor after it, "See?"

The instructor smirked, then handed Dylan the sword back. I grabbed one too,

"I feel like a pirate," Dylan joked, beginning to smack a dummy ridiculously, only grazing it slightly, "Arr, me 'earty's!" he then growled, which made me laugh. I flipped my sword around in my fingers, then began to hit the dummy. Like Dylan, I just grazed it slightly,

"Kids," the instructor walked over, "Let me teach you properly," She held her own sword, "Oh, and I'm Yvonne, by the way. I'll instruct you if you listen, deal?" Yvonne avoided the part that meant we'd have to use these skills in the games to murder one another, which was satisfying.

Dylan and I each took a dummy next to Yvonne, who began showing us how to hold the sword correctly. Dylan and I did as she said, holding it in our strongest hand with a firm grasp, but not too tight. Yvonne came to inspect,

"Perfect, Dylan!" Yvonne examined Dylan's hand. I still didn't understand how a grain picker could be so skilful, which was slightly stereotypical. Yvonne then examined my hand, adjusting it a little, then let out a satisfied sigh, "Right, you've got the hold right, let's get on to hitting and then we'll cover defence,"

The sword fighting took up all of our remaining hour of training, but was completely worth it. I'd learnt how to do something useful, which was exactly what I needed. The only problem was that Dylan now knew what I was good at - I didn't notice anybody else watching us, so I hoped it was just him alone. Most people just watched the Careers effortlessly ace everything.

Before leaving for lunch, we had a five minute break where everyone could talk about their training. Dylan sat with me, along with David and Rhett,

"So what did you guys do?" David asked, wiping sweat from his forehead. He'd been on the obstacle course for the last half hour, apparently,

"Weights and sword fighting, what about you?" Dylan replied for me, once again ruffling his hair. This habit was beginning to annoy me a little,

"Camouflage, axe throwing, then obstacle course. Not a good combination," David laughed mildly along with Rhett, who was fiddling with his kid sized version of my boots.

Water was passed around to all the tributes, who took a huge gulp out of the fancy glasses provided. The break had ended, so everyone was filed out and expected to go back to their floor to change,

"Wait, Adalyn," Dylan grabbed my arm, pulling me back. His gold eyes met mine, which was quite unusual. I'd never seen anyone with eyes that were a golden colour naturally, only Capitolists who had had surgery to modify the colour, "Be my ally," he stuck his hand out, as if he wanted me to agree.

It was against my plan - We'd probably end up killing each other. Then I thought - I'd die in the bloodbath anyway, or get killed by the Careers. Still, it would hurt too much to see him die if we became friends...

I pushed all the thoughts out of my head - it would be better than dying alone,

"Yeah, I'll be your ally," I took his hand, and shook. We both smiled, though mine was false,

"Thanks, I'll see you at lunch," Dylan's expression had a pleased expression, and after a few seconds he ran after his mentor and Capitol representative, leaving me wondering:

What the heck did I just do?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Feeling much too wealthy in the purple dress I had on, I once again followed Johanna, Gregoire and David to yet another meal. I knew I needed them to build up my strength for the arena, but I also knew if I got too used to them I wouldn't survive off random bits and pieces that I'd hunt in the games. I sighed - I'd almost forgotten about the games until now.

To my surprise, I was greeted into the dining area by Cipe - along with the other careers,

"Hey," he began trying to guide me over to their little clan on the other end of the table, but I stopped,

"What are you doing?" I sighed, honestly not wanting to natter to them. They'd kill without a second thought - they'd win the games,

"We saw you in training yesterday, you're really strong!" Cipe smiled, I couldn't exactly tell if it was fake or not, "Plus, we hear from Rhett your brother is fantastic with an axe,"

Oh. Rhett was telling the Careers all our strengths now? Of course he would. Astrophel was his District partner,

"Are you trying to hire me so I can kill people for you? Because, sorry, I'd rather not," I took a step away from Cipe, who stopped me,

"No, we aren't mass murdering lunatics. Just because we're Careers doesn't mean we do that type of thing," I was quite taken aback by his statement, since every year I'd been forced to watch the Hunger Games, the Careers brutally murdered everyone and then began killing each other - not exactly an enjoyable sight. Emertxe appeared behind Cipe, smiling as well. It made me cringe slightly,

"Be our ally," he said. I felt quite intimidated with two ridiculously tall boys bargaining with me. Most allies were made during the games, why was I making all of mine on the second day I was in The Capitol? But if I was their ally, that would mean they wouldn't kill Dylan, David, Rhett or I, which would give us all a greater chance of survival. Then again, people from outside the Career pack could be just as lethal as them.

Then again, I was going to die in the end anyway,

"As long as David, Rhett and Dylan can join too," I stuck my hand out towards Emertxe, who smiled, and shook back,

"Count them in," Cipe shook my other hand, "Care to join us?" he gestured to their end of the table, where Astrophel, Evie Sola, Coburn and Katya were already sat,

"Maybe at dinner, right now I need to speak to David," I backed away, before they could object.

When I arrived at our end, David was scowling at me. I sent one back,

"Why were you talking to... them?" He spat out the word 'them' as if it was some kind of new, killer disease, "They're freaking psychopaths! They'll kill you, just you watch!" he looked annoyed as I sat down next to him,

"David, shut up, I might be your little sister but I don't always have to do what you say! We're both going to die as it is!" I snarled back, noticing Dylan was sat opposite me, "They asked me to be their ally, and I said yes as long as you Rhett and Dylan could be. But I guess you aren't joining us," I turned my gaze to Dylan, who was smirking in the most revolting way,

"You're funny when you're angry," he seemed to have read my mind, "But yeah, I'll join you," he said calmly, which relieved me massively. I wasn't quite sure what Rhett would do, since he'd told the Careers about David's axing skills. He was on the other side of David at the table,

"Astrophel left me for the Careers, so I'm not going to follow her," Rhett sent me a cold stare, "You go with them. I honestly don't care,"

I was quite shocked that this little kid could say that so boldly. I glared at both Rhett and David before standing up, and look over at Cipe. He waved, giving me a genuine smile,

"See you around, then," I smiled bogusly, just to annoy, and walked over to the free seat next to Cipe. Dylan had followed me,

"Hey Adalyn," Cipe smiled, "What happened?" he took a sip of a blue liquid from an odd shaped glass by his half empty plate,

"Rhett and David aren't joining us," I reported, to which Cipe just nodded. He tapped the girl next to him, Evie Sola, on the shoulder, then began getting the attention of the other Careers,

"Hey guys!" Cipe loudly got their attention, "Adalyn and Dylan are joining the crew," he smiled.

The other careers began cheering, which I found quite strange. The Hunger Games was a death match, all of these people were going to die anyway. My feelings about the whole thing were mixed - I was going to be safer than before, but I was still going to die.

When lunch ended, all tributes were sent to their rooms to discuss tactics with their mentor. I said goodbye to my new allies, who were already treating me like a proper friend. Purposely ignoring David, I once again stepped into the elevator that would take us to the seventh floor.

Reymi and Alberto were in the room, their sketch books open and pencils flitting across them. I assumed they were designing yet more outfits for David and I, since they had to design our interview outfits for the day before the games.

Johanna and Gregoire sat down on the black leather sofa opposite to where David and I were expected to sit. I sat on the sofa, while David sat on the chair,

"Alright, folks," Johanna started, "In the arena, it's the scariest thing you'll ever experience. You'll fear dying all the time, and in your case you'll fear loss of a family member. Make allies, kill people, whatever. The point of this is to survive, so don't do anything stupid," Johanna began, "Unless you want to live with the memories, I suggest you get yourself killed in there. It's far better in there than it is when you get out," she stood up, and walked into the bathroom. That made me wonder - is that why she's so mean to everyone all the time?

"Is that it?" David asked, looking rather annoyed. Gregoire sighed,

"She's the same every year," he answered, "When she won, The Capitol tried to get her to do things she really didn't want to do. Johanna, as you can tell, is incredibly stubborn. She obviously didn't, so when she arrived home after the Victory tour, her whole family was dead. Killed by President Snow," Gregoire stood up, "I'd better get her,"

I suddenly felt so ridiculously guilty - all this time, she'd been so horrible because she knew if she dared to care for anyone else, they'd be killed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The next few days went by pretty fast - training was getting easier, my friendship with the Careers was getting stronger. David and Rhett had allied each other - which everyone had seen coming. Today was the day we would be tested on our newly developed or enhanced skills - and I was nervous to the point where I thought I might have a panic attack. Each tribute would use their best skills to impress the game makers, receiving a score out of twelve, twelve being the best.

Luckily for me, Cipe and Evie would be first, as they were District One. As Evie went in, I nervously waited with my allies,

"What are you gonna do?" I questioned Cipe, who looked a little unnerved,

"I'm good with obstacle courses, and I'm pretty fast. Thought I'd show them that," he rubbed his hands together fretfully,

"Don't worry, Careers always get high scores," I encouraged, but according to Cipe's reaction, it wasn't working,

"That makes it worse. I have to do well," he looked up, noticing Evie walking back from the training room. A grin was pasted across her face,

"I think I did well, I showed them healing remedies," she sat down next to Cipe, who was pale from nerves. There was a short break between each tribute's testing, so each tribute could be judged correctly,

"Good luck," Evie hugged Cipe, who was then called to enter the training room.  
***

As the boy from District Six walked out of the training area, a broad smile on his face when he walked up to his District partner, I knew it was my turn. I was shaking - obviously from nerves. Emertxe pat my shoulder,

"You'll do great," he smiled. I didn't reply, I forced myself to enter the training room.

The game makers were sitting at a table that had now been placed in the training room, chatting casually to one another. When I stood in front of them, they coughed loudly, and began focusing their attention on me, which was slightly intimidating,

"District Seven?" One asked, a pen in their hand,

"Yes," I replied, looking around the room for the swords. I eyed them up, along with a dummy,

"Alright, you can start," Seneca Crane, the head game maker gestured towards the equipment.

Jogging over to the swords, I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I just picked up the sword and began slicing furiously at the dummy. Thanks to my practice, I managed to rip up the dummy fairly well.

Then it struck me - I should try use an axe. Stupid idea, but I went for it.

Walking up to the targets, I picked up two axes in my hands. I stood at an angle, trying to get my aim right.

As I threw the axe, it reminded me of the dream. How I'd knocked Coburn dead with an axe square in the chest. I faltered, which caused the axe to completely miss the target and land with a huge clash on the floor.

The second axe. I had to make this work.

Aiming once more, I pushed the vision out of my head. I wouldn't kill anyone, I'd let them kill me.

The axe hit the target, but only just. Nowhere near the bull's eye.

I heard game makers behind me clap half heartedly, and as I turned around I saw them scribbling down notes with their faultless Capitol pens,

"You may leave," Seneca said, gesturing towards the door. I sighed as I walked out.  
That went terribly. Absolutely terribly.

When I stepped back into the training room, I received a friendly glance from Katya. I hadn't really spoken to her much,

"You alright?" she asked, patting the chair next to her. I sat down, and leaned on my arm,

"No, that was absolutely awful," I summed up, knowing that I shouldn't have gone and used the axes. Katya put a hand on my shoulder,

"Don't worry. Just because you don't do well here, doesn't mean you won't do well in the arena," she comforted me, using the same tone Mom always used to cheer me up. It made me homesick, I swallowed to hide it,

"I'm going to die anyway, why does it matter? I'd much rather die than continue living a life with the memories,"

As I said that, David began walking towards the training room, a smirk on his face. I had no idea what his plan would be, I hadn't spoken to him for the past week or so.

I noticed Rhett was giving me an evil look, which probably suggested either he or David had a plan of some kind to get as many sponsors as possible.

Then I thought - sponsors. I didn't think anyone would even bother, after my disgraceful performance.  
***

As the male from twelve stepped out of the training room, we all eagerly awaited for our scores to be decided. This process could take a while, so we all began to chat boisterously.  
So far, I was generally closest to Emertxe, Dylan and Cipe. They had been the first few people to speak to me, so I decided to talk with the girls for a change.

Astrophel, Katya and Evie were all talking about their Districts, which I thought would be a nice conversation to join,

"Hey," I put on a smile, and sat on the sofa next to them, "Mind if I join you?" I'd never really been shy before, but suddenly I was,

"Sure," Astrophel smiled, "So Adalyn, what's your District like?" three pairs of eyes latched onto mine, eager to know what my home was like. Though a sensitive topic, I replied,

"There's a town in the centre of the forest, not many of us live there. We all live in log cabins crammed together - everyone knows everyone. The school is literally four seconds from my house, which is quite handy in the cooler months," I began, "My dad is a carpenter, so David and I always used to collect wood for him," I glanced briefly at David, who was of course talking to Rhett, "It smells like pine needles," Finishing my description, I met the three girls' eyes once more,

"This probably sounds stupid," Evie whispered, "But I don't know what pine needles smell like," the other two girls began to laugh.

I smiled, and pulled off my bandanna - my token of home. I briefly inhaled the scent, which of course smelt of home,

"They smell like this," I handed it to Evie, who quickly sniffed the green fabric. She nodded,

"It smells really homely..." She handed it to Astrophel and Katya, who both took a short sniff, which looked rather awkward,

"Tributes!" I heard a voice - belonging to Seneca Crane. I was in awe when I saw a huge television screen fall from the ceiling, as if it was floating down from the heavens, "The scores are in, please watch carefully,"

The screen showed the Capitol seal briefly, also playing the Panem anthem. Evie's name showed first - an eight. She squealed, obviously happy with her score. Much to Cipe's surprise, he got a well deserved nine. Emertxe, Katya and Astrophel all got eights, and when Rhett's name flashed across the screen I was eager to see his score. A four.

Coburn received a seven, which he looked rather disappointed to have received. I couldn't really think of him positively, not since the dream I'd had.

Then it showed - Anise Tamarind, eleven. Everyone gasped - nobody ever got that high of a score. When I turned around to view Anise's reaction, she just stood there, humming a nursery rhyme. It didn't take me long to realise which one it was,

"Ring a ring a roses..." She whispered, before walking away to sit on the other side of the room. It was extremely disturbing - and I could tell all the other tributes agreed with me.

Both tributes from six got a seven, and then it was my turn. Adalyn Farron - five. Five.

I was doomed.

I felt an arm around me - Astrophel, I think it was. I knew I was going to die - but that just made it seem like I was going to die quicker. Everyone knew I'd be vulnerable.

I eagerly waited for David's score - a nine. I knew he'd used his axes, disobeying Johanna.

I didn't bother listening to anyone else's score, until it ended on Dylan:

Ten.

He'd received the second highest score - I didn't understand how. He would have only done sword fighting, unless he dramatically improved overnight, I had no idea how he had done that.  
The other tributes received fours and fives, which made me the equivalent of a loser.

Once again, dying didn't seem like such a bad idea right then.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

As I awoke the next day, I realised that today was my last day before the Games. I sat up bolt upright, suddenly shaking like a leaf. Today was my last day alive.

Also, unfortunately, today was interview day. The whole Capitol would be watching - deciding who was worthy to be sponsored.

The same Avox woman entered the room, laying some clothes on my bed. Over the past two weeks, I'd become quite attached to her. Though she couldn't speak, I felt like I understood her,

"I won't see you again," I mumbled, walking over to her. She gave me a questioning look, "I'm sorry The Capitol did this to you," I hugged her, which was slightly awkward. Obviously no tribute before myself had ever been attached to her, because she began crying. She couldn't sob - silent, voiceless tears fell from her eyes. It almost broke me, too.

We stood like that for a while, just hugging. If I could give her my voice, I would. Instead, she let go of me, and grabbed a piece of paper. She wrote down:

_My name is Penelope Downing. I am from District Five. I was brought here for not turning up to a reaping. You are the only tribute who has ever cared for me. Thank you, and I wish you all the luck I can possibly give you._

I smiled, hugging her once more. Before she began crying even more, she left me with the piece of paper. I decided I would take it into the games with me somehow - I'm sure I'd find a way to sneak it in.

I quickly hopped in the shower before attending breakfast.

At breakfast, our team was talking extremely loudly at the end of the table. All eight of us were shovelling food into our mouths whilst talking at full volume. I think it was to hide the fact that some of us might be dead tomorrow.

David and Rhett weren't looking too confident - neither of them were talking, only eating their food extremely slowly. I sighed, knowing exactly how they must be feeling. I had no idea what I was going to do that evening, I was terrible at speaking in front of people. I swear, if Johanna dared to say that I had to improvise I'd be dead before the games had even begun.

"You sound so emotionless, it's sickening," Johanna whined for the eighth time in the past fifteen minutes.

For the interview, I was supposed to act quite unassuming and modest, which quite honestly I don't do,

"Then let's pick another way!" I yelled, getting frustrated, "To be perfectly honest, I don't really care about sponsors. I'm going to die so why does it matter?" Standing up, Johanna glared at me so coldly I swore the room temperature dropped by about five degrees,  
"Having some people care about you is better than having nobody care about you," Johanna fought back, "Now do what I say," she ordered, sitting down on the sofa opposite me. I sat down once more, rolling my eyes dramatically.

Reymi was sat on the chair, silently sketching away. My interview dress had already been made, so I wasn't quite sure what she was doing,

"So, Adalyn, how do you feel about your brother being in the games?" Johanna mimicked Caesar Flickerman,

"It's not exactly a nice thought, knowing you have to fight someone who is your family as well as an excellent tribute. I'd be pretty much nothing without him, thanks to him I am who I am," I rambled on, trying to sound like I cared. Seemed to work,

"Finally," Johanna sighed happily, then began thinking of another question, "How do you think your family will be taking this, both their children in a game to fight to the death?" Johanna purposely asked this, to make my emotions run haywire,

"Well, I can tell you they're amazing people. It isn't fair that they have to lose their children in these games, because face it, I'm hopeless without them. They raised me, loved me, fed me for fourteen years, and it breaks my heart to know I won't be able to have that anymore," I looked Johanna directly in the eye, "And I'm sure my brother feels the same,"

She nodded at me, looking slightly moved,

"I think you're good," Johanna actually let a smile appear on her lips, "Better get that dress on you, the interview is in two hours,"

As Johanna said that, Reymi sprang up in delight, a grin pasted across her slightly orange face. She led me into the same room where I had been made over for the chariot ride, which seemed like a life time away, when in reality it was only about two weeks before.

Kear and Hana were in the room, make up brushes and hair products at the ready. I knew I had to look stunning, or The Capitol would not be pleased,

"You'll like this dress," Reymi smiled, as she brushed a pink powder on my cheeks, "I think it's your type of thing,"

Hana, Kear and Reymi all made my face look beautiful, no doubt, but once again I wasn't allowed to look in any mirrors. The only thing I knew was that this time, my hair was tied up.

Once again, as the dress was pulled over me, my eyes were forced to be closed. This time, I smiled as they began tightening the dress around me, which felt a lot heavier than the other one,

"Alright," Kear said, "Open!"

I opened my eyes, and saw myself wearing an emerald green dress that frilled out into gold from the knee down, with golden ribbons draped from various points of my torso. My hair was still curly, but a beautiful curly. Not Adalyn curly, fashionable curly. It was hung from the side of my head in a messy bun, with pins that looked like tiny golden leaves holding it into place. My eyelids had been painted with green and gold eye shadow, with bright red lips that looked plumper than normal,

"It's beautiful," I whispered, turning my body so I could see the back of the dress. To my surprise, my back was completely bare, with a small butterfly painted on my right shoulder blade. I much preferred this dress to the one at the opening ceremony, it seemed more Adalyn,

"Thought you'd like it," Hana fiddled with my hair a little bit, making it even more perfect than before, "You'll knock 'em dead, my darling. All those boys will want the girl from District Seven," I disagreed with her statement, but didn't dare say it out loud in case I upset her,

"Thank you, for everything," I began hugging Kear, but was rampaged by Reymi and Hana as well,

"It was a delight designing for you, my dear," Kear said, "I hope you win, I honestly do,"  
This was the first time anyone had said anything like that who wasn't family - it really touched my heart. I grinned, forcing myself not to cry or I would end up ruining my beautiful make up,

"Guys, we better get going. Interviews in half an hour," Johanna stepped in, "Well, well, well. Aren't you looking nice, District Seven,"

I smirked, and for the last time I followed Johanna to the elevator that would take me away from the Seventh floor.

The crowd was immeasurable - and a garish exhibit of colour. I was convinced that every member of The Capitol, even children, were watching these interviews. The interviews would also be displayed to the whole of Panem - no pressure or anything...

Luckily for me, I wouldn't be on for another hour or so. Evie and Cipe would be first - and they stood at the front of the straight line of tributes.

Caesar Flickerman hopped on to the stage - his hair a bright green this year. It was tradition that he dyed it a different colour every time he stepped on the stage to show the interviews,

"Good evening Panem, and welcome to the eve of the Seventy Second Annual Hunger Games!" He yelled to the crowd, who instantly began cheering manically. The colours began to move around, which was quite a strange sight, "Each tribute will be on stage for five minutes, and first off we have Evie Sola of District One!" Caesar raised his arm to welcome Evie, who joined him on the stage. Her dress was astounding - pure white, with tiny diamonds decorating the dress in random places. Though simple, it was quite beautiful. The tributes clapped as well, Cipe being the most enthusiastic.

Two large chairs were in the middle of the stage, one for Caesar and obviously one for the tribute he would be talking to. Evie gave a quick wave to the crowd before sitting down in her chair,

"Welcome Evie! What a pleasure to meet you!" Caesar chimed, with a Capitol smile on his face,

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Caesar!" Evie shook his hand,

"So, how's life at home? Any family?" Caesar asked, gesturing to what was supposed to be District One,

"I have my Mom, Dad and little sister, Kaitlin," Evie smiled, "They were proud that I entered these games, even though they might lose me, they know that I'll try my best," the way Evie spoke - it was quite strange. She sounded like she was trying to manipulate everyone into thinking these games were a pleasure,

"Oh? And anyone else? I'm sure there's a pretty boy who's lucky enough to have you," Caesar smiled, nudging Evie along,

"Why yes, Cipe actually. We volunteered for the games together," the crowd began to cheer, which I found extremely cheesy. I hadn't known about Cipe and Evie, "We both wanted to honour Panem and take part in the games, and we agreed that if either of us don't make it out, our memory shall live on forever,"

I could tell she was lying - her voice faltered slightly. Nobody else in the crowd seemed to notice.

All of a sudden, an alarm went off. At first I thought there might be a fire - but apparently it signalled that it was time for Evie to leave the stage,

"Well, Evie, I hope you and Cipe do well in the games, and I wish you all the luck you need!" Caesar quickly shook hands with Evie again before she left the stage. Cipe quickly hugged Evie before walking on the stage himself, "And now, ladies and gentleman, Cipe Emosewa of District One!"

Cipe and Caesar shook hands, just as Evie had done before, and sat back on the chair. He was also dressed with a pure theme - a white dress shirt, gray dress pants and matching shoes.  
I didn't really pay attention to the interviews after that, I watched but didn't take in any information, which wasn't exactly clever. I needed to see what everyone else was doing so I could actually accomplish something myself.

When I began listening again, Anise was sat in the chair,

"Well Anise, highest score in training! Care to give us a clue as to how you earned that score?" Caesar smiled at Anise, who was wearing a pale blue dress that looked as if it was the shimmering surface of the sea,

"This is a game. I have to play it right, don't I?" She stated, emotion wasn't present in her expression or tone of voice,

"Why yes," Caesar said, obviously not expecting an answer like that, "So, any family back in District Four?" He leaned forward slightly,

"Yes, doesn't everyone?" Anise answered,

"Oh, err," for the first time in his career, Caesar had actually been speechless. Luckily, he was saved by the alarm, "Well, Anise Tamarind of District Four, I sincerely hope you the best in the games!" Caesar stuck his hand out to shake Anise's, but she avoided it and walked off the stage, muttering something to herself.

Quite honestly, I was scared of her.

Coburn stepped up on to the stage, looking huge compared to Caesar. Once again, I zoned out, until I heard my name be called,

"Citizens of Panem, please welcome Adalyn Farron of District Seven!" Caesar motioned for me to come on stage, which I did.

The crowd began oohing and aahing when they saw my dress as it swept across the floor of the stage. I politely took Caesar's hand, and shook it, then sat in the same chair all the other tribute's before me had,

"Welcome, Adalyn! And what a shock - you and your brother reaped for the same games!" Caesar began, with the obvious topic of the day. I nodded,

"Yeah, I couldn't quite believe it. David is so important to me... I honestly hope he wins the games for me," I replied, which made Caesar frown,

"Oh? And not win for yourself?" I could tell he was getting my gist, which was helpful,

"I'd much rather have him win for me than for me to go back home, completely useless to my family. I can't do half the things David can do," I put on a smile, and let my gaze land on David. I saw him smiling, a truly genuine smile, the first I'd seen in a week,

"Your brother is incredibly lucky to have such a charming sister - tell me, how did your family take the blow?" Caesar grasped my attention once more,

"I couldn't tell you how heartbroken they were, and it kills me, knowing that at least one of their children is going to be lost. It was just unfortunate that both of us were reaped, but in a way it was positive. I always held my family back," I made up, wanting sympathy from the audience.

My plan worked - the crowd began objecting,

"Well, Adalyn, I am certain that Panem disagrees with you!" Caesar began clapping, and shook my hand. I noticed he gave me a sympathetic look along with the crowd as the alarm rang, "Give it up for Adalyn, folks!"

The crowd cheered as I stepped off the stage, where David pulled me into a hug. I wasn't sure if the cameras were on us, but quite honestly I didn't care,

"I'm proud of you, Lynny," David let go, and stepped up on to the stage. I watched him sit on the chair I had been sat on moments before.

I wasn't quite sure I wanted to watch, I knew this was the last time I would see my brother looking sane and clean before the games tomorrow. The tributes weren't allowed to see each other after the interviews were finished, we were made to have dinner in our rooms for a last meal.

I was pulled back to reality when I heard David say, "I'm going to win for Adalyn if she doesn't win for me, and I'm sure she'll do the same,"

I felt tears form in my eyes - I couldn't bear to think if I won the games that I'd never have my big brother to guide me again. But even if he did die, he'd always be with me, right?

When David's interview was over, I gave him the happiest look I could accomplish at that point before bursting into tears. Kear, Hana and Reymi would probably shoot me for ruining my makeup, but I honestly didn't care. I really couldn't lose him - he'd made me who I was,

"Shh," David comforted, pulling me into another hug, "It's okay, Adalyn, it's all okay,"

It wasn't okay - I was going to die tomorrow and maybe even he would. I couldn't bear to live without him,

"It isn't, David," I cried into his shoulder, which was now possible since I was wearing shoes that had a heel to them, "If I die in there, I'll miss you too much," I tried to joke, but failed miserably. David seemed to guess I was,

"Same for me, I'll miss you too much," David let go of me, I wasn't quite sure why until I saw the stuck up expression pasted all over Rhett's face,

"David, you're messing with the enemy," Rhett said, which I found almost hilarious. What a stupid kid - I almost fumed at him, until David stopped me,

"She isn't our enemy, Rhett. She's my sister, and I trust her with my life, so you should too," David began walking away, so I grabbed his arm,

"Dylan's on, you might want to watch," David smirked, I had absolutely no idea why. If he was daring to think... okay that's absolutely disgusting.

Dylan was dressed in a beige coloured shirt that matched the colour of his eyes, with black dress pants and a pair of beige shoes that made him look taller than he already was. I hadn't really noticed how strong he looked before the interview, which made me feel exceedingly uncomfortable,

"Welcome Dylan of District Nine! So tell me, how's your life back at home?" Caesar smiled as Dylan casually sat down in the large chair,

"Oh, it's great. The atmosphere in nine - most people just think we're grain pickers, and that's all we do. They're wrong, you know, we're all like a big family. When anyone gets reaped, it's like everyone's family member has left. I mean, I wasn't too bothered about entering these games. If I win, I win, if I lose, I lose," Dylan nodded his head. I didn't quite understand his angle here,

"As the District of grain, what do you do for day to day activities?" Caesar asked, bracing himself for a reason I did not know,

"We don't pick grain. We're mighty people," Dylan assured, ruffling his hair. I hated how he kept doing that - but in another way it made him seem more casual for the audience, "I actually carry the bags of grain to the train to be taken to the other Districts, which means I'm good at lifting things," I thought he might show off his muscles, but he didn't, much to my relief, "So I'll be hard to beat," he smirked, that same smirk he gave me when I was angry. It was annoying me how fearless he was acting - but I knew it was so he could get some sponsors,

"And how about the ladies? As a young man of thirteen, is there anyone who's hoping you'll come out of the games?" Caesar gave Dylan a funny look - The Capitol always wanted to know this type of thing,

"Eh, I guess you could say that," Dylan answered playfully, just before the alarm rang once more,

"Well Dylan of District Nine, I wish you the best of luck in the arena tomorrow!" Caesar shook Dylan's hand before letting him walk off that stage.

I watched as he entered the small corridor we were forced to wait in, and stand next to me. I decided I'd tease him, to make myself forget about the situation I was in,

"Oooh, who's your girlfriend, Dylan?" I punched his shoulder lightly, which actually kind of hurt since it was so hard against my knuckles,

"I don't have a girlfriend," Dylan replied, in quite a mysterious tone. I chuckled to myself,

"What's her name then?" I asked, but had to wait a few seconds for a reply as the crowd began cheering for Hayleigh, the other tribute of nine,

"Now, Adalyn, why would I tell you that?" he patted my shoulder lightly, before turning to talk to Emertxe and Cipe.

I wasn't sure what Dylan was trying to do, but let the thought slip out of my head instantly as Astrophel, Evie and Katya all walked up to me,

"You okay? David told us you were upset," Katya said, and I noticed how beautiful her dress was. It was a deep red, like her opening ceremony dress, only it hit the floor and wasn't as frilled as before,

"Yeah, just had reality hit me there for a second," I smiled, appreciating their care, "You guys did great in your interviews, I bet you'll get a lot of sponsors,"

"Eh, I'm not too bothered, we'll be fine without them," Astrophel replied, then looked at the stage. The male tribute from twelve walked on the stage, which meant we only had five minutes left together before the games,

"Guys, I'm gonna stay with David," I said. All three of the girls nodded, and to my surprise I was pulled into a hug. A big, whimpering, girly hug. I'd never experienced one before - but it made me want to cry again,

"In that arena, we're all protecting each other, okay? And if one of us wins, we'll all be happy for them," Evie whispered as we all let go of one another. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, and I set off to find David.

Annoyingly, he was talking to Rhett, who I now decided was a stuck up bratty kid, no longer sweet and innocent. Then I thought - the games had probably made him act the way he did. At that moment, I didn't care, and grabbed David's arm,

"Lynny -" David had tears in his eyes, which broke my heart. I had never seen David cry before these games, and I wish I never had.

We wrapped our arms around each other, and didn't let go until the male tribute from twelve stepped off the stage.  
Let the games begin.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

That night, I didn't sleep at all - I just lay there, my eyes closed. It was better than having no energy to live off for the first few hours of the games, and when morning finally came, it wasn't welcomed positively. Reymi woke me up, Kear and Hana elsewhere. I never said a proper goodbye to them,

"Up you get, honey," Reymi stroked my hair lovingly, as I pretended to wake up. She reminded me of Mom,

"Stay with me," I said, grabbing her hand. Reymi nodded, and handed me a tray of food,

"Eat it all, I don't care how full you get. You need to last as long as possible in the first few hours," Reymi said. The breakfast had 2 slices of toast, a cup filled with hot chocolate and a muffin. I ate the meal slowly, knowing that if I ate it too fast I'd make myself throw it up.

Reymi brought in my gear for the arena - it was a gray, single pieced jumpsuit, with the boots and gloves attached to it. She held another hoodie, which I assumed was for extra warmth. I would have said something, but I honestly didn't feel like talking at that moment.

After I finished my breakfast, Reymi made me step into the shower and clean myself thoroughly. If I was in top shape at the start, I'd keep going for longer. That's what Reymi told me, so that's what I did. I wasn't quite sure what she knew about the games, but I was guessing she was using her common sense, which I had left in bed that day.

The balmy rush of air hit my skin one last time, leaving my skin silky and fresh and my hair fluffy. I wrapped a towel around me as I walked out of the bathroom, although there wasn't really any point since Reymi would be dressing me.

Thermal underwear was put on first, which was basically rubbery on the outside and soft on the inside, like those wetsuits you sometimes see people in District Four wearing. It only covered my torso, the tops of my thighs and my shoulders, which meant I'd be able to wash myself whilst wearing it. Then, Reymi helped me step into the one piece jumpsuit, which wasn't as tight as the underwear. The fabric was quite thick, so it'd keep me warm, but didn't feel waterproof. Reymi then pulled the hoodie around my shoulders, and zipped it up as high as it would go,

"Don't forget my bandanna," I whispered, trying to say as little as possible. Reymi smiled, and tied my bushy hair up before tying the bandanna around it tightly,

"All set?" Reymi asked, then pulled a disappointed expression - I wasn't ready, and never would be, but I still had to go.

We stepped into the elevator one last time. I wouldn't see David until I got on the hovercraft, that would take us to the arena.

The hovercraft looked disgusting - metal everywhere, even the seats. Everything was also really compact, which made me feel sick. Reymi guided me to a seat on the hovercraft, and sat next to me. I watched as the other tributes filed on, and took their places with their stylist.

David and Alberto entered at last, which made me feel a little better. David immediately sat down next to me, and grabbed my hand so tightly I thought he might break it. Neither of us spoke, we just silently communicated to one another, exchanging our fear through our eyes.

I didn't notice that the hovercraft had taken off, and no doubt every camera in Panem was looking out for it to see where we would end up. There were no windows on the hovercraft, so the tributes didn't know where we were going.

Reymi took my free hand, even though I didn't know her that well, I knew she got attached to people.

When I felt a thud beneath us, I knew we were below the arena, where each tribute would be taken to one of the 24 sectors inside. Before we left, I hugged David so tightly I probably stopped him from breathing.  
Reymi and Alberto pulled us apart, and led us to the room we had to stay in, awaiting to enter the arena.

Apparently my room number was seventeen, since that's what it said on the door. I wasn't sure what I was doing, noticing small details seemed like the only thing I could do at that moment to keep my sanity intact.

Waiting was painful. More painful than that axe hitting my face all those years ago. Nearly as painful as hearing David's name be called in the reaping. I didn't realise that I was holding Reymi's hands until I heard a voice say:

"All tributes please step on the plates."

I let go, and began shaking frenziedly. I couldn't do this - I was going to die. I was terrified, more terrified than I had ever been. I let out a moan,

"Don't worry, my dear," Reymi kissed my forehead, "I'll be supporting you all the way," she guided me to the plate, where I stood reluctantly, a glass tube began coming up out of the floor to stop me from escaping. I didn't even try - there was no point.

When the plate began moving upwards, that's when I really started to panic. The rotting stench of old wood filled my nose, which honestly wasn't pleasant.

When my head was in view of the arena, I gasped.

I was surrounded by a swamp, the cornucopia sat right in the middle of it. I saw all the supplies in the murky mess beneath, wrapped in plastic, but sinking ever so slowly,

"Welcome Panem, to the Seventy Second Hunger Games!" Claudius Templesmith's voice echoed through the arena. Around the cornucopia, trees stood tall everywhere. Then I heard it - thunder. And rain began to fall. The environment was a rainforest, "Only sixty seconds until the games begin!"

I looked around, seeing David about 8 plates away from me. Dylan was next to him, and on the other side of the circle I saw my other allies. I could do this, right?

The tribute next to me was fiddling with their wrist, and I realised it was their token, and that it was Hayleigh from District Nine. She was trying to tie a bracelet around her wrist.

Then I remembered - the slip of paper Penelope gave me. I'd left it in the bedroom.  
Feeling guilty, I almost didn't notice when Claudius yelled that there were only thirty seconds left.

Then the impact - a huge crash nearly blasted my eardrum into a useless body part. Next to me, fire surged from the plate. I smelt the smoke. The heat brushed against my skin. Then I realised - Hayleigh must have dropped her token. The pressure pads on the plates would explode if the pressure changed in the slightest.

I couldn't let this bother me, Claudius was counting down from ten,

"Nine..." I could still smell the smoke,

"Eight..." I took one last look at Dylan and David,

"Seven," I took another last look at my allies,

"Six... Five... Four,"

I couldn't take it - the smoke filled my lungs, and made me want to vomit everywhere,

"Three... two," I gasped for air,

"One."

The canon rang through my ears, and I threw myself forward, along with the other now twenty two tributes. Everyone was ahead of me - they weren't scared of the fire like I was.  
Almost instantly, Emertxe stopped someone from killing me there and then, shooting them right in the windpipe with a bow and arrow. I didn't dare look to see the remains.  
To the other side, I could see Rhett lying dead on the floor. He hadn't even survived the first forty seconds.

I was finally at the cornucopia - the swamp made it ridiculously difficult to move. I grabbed a green coloured bag, and noticed a sword lying in the dirt. I instantly grabbed it, but was met with a knife in my thigh,

"Shoot..." I mumbled, trying to limp away. Emertxe noticed the knife in my leg, and sprinted over. Well, more like half slid half fell,

"Adalyn," he said, pulling the knife out of my leg. I screamed in pain, then felt another being support me. Dylan threw a sword of his own into the male tribute of twelve, and they instantly fell dead.

I saw David and Katya beating up the girl from eleven, who was apparently the one who threw the knife at me, since she was holding about eight of them in her hands. To my delight, David held an axe and Katya held a spear. David thrust the axe right into the chest of the girl, brutally killing her.

Just like the nightmare. Square in the chest,

"Adalyn, keep moving!" Dylan yelled in my ear, but I couldn't move. Nothing would function correctly, as if I was paralyzed. Instead, he threw his sword to Cipe, who began attacking one of the tributes from Five. Dylan carried me away from the cornucopia, and behind a bush,

"Dylan..." I panicked, grabbing his arms so tight I thought I might break them,

"You're alive. You're alive, Adalyn. David is alive," he smiled, "Give me your sword, I'm going to protect you," I didn't exactly hand the sword to him, he took it out of my hand and stayed by my side. Dylan has saved me, and now he was risking his life for me.

I heard Astrophel scream.

What happened? No...

I heard footsteps come closer to us, and to my delight, David, Evie and Cipe stood there, with only a few cuts and rips in their arena gear.

More rustling through the bushes. Emertxe appeared, carrying Astrophel in his arms. I knew why she'd screamed - a huge cut looked ugly from blood loss on her left arm. Emertxe was pale with worry – it was warming to know that he really cared about his allies.

Katya dove through the bush, narrowly avoiding a dagger. The boy from Five's face saw all of us, and then he sprinted away. I almost felt sorry for him - everyone was terrified of the Careers. I saw Coburn a few metres behind, fending himself from a tribute.

I realised I was sitting in a swamp that was about six inches thick, and rain was falling rapidly. Then I knew - we had to get up in the trees,

"Dylan..." I was weak from the injury, "Trees... We need to get up in the trees," I mumbled. Dylan nodded, looking up,

"Guys, we need to climb up. The swamp will stop us from moving around. When we find a good place to stay, we'll unpack our supplies and shelter." Dylan peeled the bag off my back, and shoved it on his own with the pack he had grabbed. He lifted me up, knowing I wouldn't be able to climb too well.

As the able people helped carry the injured up the relatively easy to climb trees, I realised - I had made it through the bloodbath, with my brother.  
I couldn't believe it.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The rain continued falling - heavily. By the time we reached a place to sit, we were all well and truly soaked. Coburn had caught up with us, after finishing off one of the tributes from twelve.

It was comforting to be up in the treetops - back at home, David and I used to see who could climb up the trees fastest. Obviously, David always won since he was a boy and he had a well developed upper body strength.

Dylan still had his arms wrapped around me as I sat down on a thick branch, an umbrella of abnormally large leaves sheltering me. Nobody else had shelter - Astrophel needed it more than me,

"Guys, we should unpack and set up a camp here," Cipe said from a branch above me, beginning to pull supplies from the pack he had grabbed. To our delight, a hammock was pulled out of the bag, along with two waterproof sheets that were the same shade as the greenery around us.

Emertxe carefully let Astrophel sit on a branch, whilst he retrieved the supplies from his bag and the one Astrophel had taken. Packs of dried fruit fell from his, along with two large bottles of clean water. That was definitely one of the best packs we received. Out of Astrophel's, there were thick blankets and to everyone's delight, a roll of bandages. Dylan launched at it before Emertxe could, and began wrapping the white cloth around my leg,

"It's better than nothing," Dylan carefully wrapped up my injury, which had been bleeding for the past 10 minutes none stop. It made me feel tired - my reactions were far too slow to do much other than sit around doing absolutely nothing, staring at the surrounding branches and leaves that were everywhere I let my eyes trail aimlessly. If I felt that bad, Astrophel was obviously worse.

Dylan tied the bandage up, trimming it with his sword,

"Well, we better set up the hammock and sheets, then unpack the rest," he said, staring right into my eyes. I tried to get up, but instantly sat back down. I could not move, let alone walk, with the gaping wound in my thigh, "Easy there," Dylan held my shoulder, then began leaping from branch to branch, helping Emertxe, Coburn, Cipe and Evie pull the waterproof sheets across the branches, along with the abnormally large hammock that would easily fit us all inside.

When the sheets were firmly tied to the branches, along with the hammock, it was like we had our own house in the trees. The sheets were laid about a foot above the hammock, so we could see if anyone was sneaking up on our hideout in the night.

Astrophel and I sat together in the tent, the only seriously injured out of the team. Evie was good with remedies to ease the pain, so had gone looking for some kind of plant to use for healing with Cipe, who was determined to protect her in case anyone snuck up on her.

I noticed Emertxe was grinning strangely at Astrophel every time he set his gaze on her - which was quite often. I ignored it, and began talking quietly to Dylan,

"Thanks for carrying me here," I whispered, barely able to achieve anything above one,

"And Emertxe, thanks for saving me," sitting up, I gave him a friendly glance,

"No problem," Emertxe replied, sticking his thumb up. This made me smile as I turned to face Dylan again,

"You look cold," he whispered, taking one of the blankets and draping it over me. I tried to shake it off, determined that someone else could use it, "No, you need it, you're hurt," Dylan began wrapping it around me, careful to not move my leg. I was too weak to move away from it,

"Sleep," he breathed in the most calming way, his voice alone almost made me drowsy.  
Admitting I was tired was hard to do, but after about thirty minutes of my eyes being fastened shut, I entered my slumber.  
***

I was awoken with a shake - and dim light. I realised that the sun was falling beneath the horizon - wherever that was in the mass of trees.

Dylan was sat next to me, munching on some raisins. I squirmed around a little, then pulled myself up. I wish I hadn't - I had forgotten about the gash in my leg,

"Evie, we could use some of that pain killer you made," I heard Dylan say, who began crawling over towards the other side of our hide out. I heard rustling - then the blanket was pulled from my body,

"We're going to have to take your jumpsuit off," Evie was there, holding a small bag in her hand, "But first eat this,"

The bag was handed to me, and I peered inside. A concoction of leaves and something else were mixed together with some apricots. I poured it into my mouth - let's just say leaves and apricots aren't exactly a nice combination.

As the jumpsuit was pulled off my body, leaving just the thermal underclothes covering me, the pain began to lessen. Evie had managed to create a remedy out of whatever she had found - a seriously well made one,

"Wow, you're good with your medicines," I smiled, as Evie checked out my wound. I didn't dare look at it - I honestly didn't want to.

Looking around the tent - you wouldn't have though we weren't in the Hunger Games. Most of the team were laughing together - throwing around dried fruit before shoving it into their mouths.

All of a sudden - the Panem anthem blasted out through the arena, and the torrential rainfall finally stopped. Emertxe clambered out of the base, seeing what was going on,  
"Guys, they're showing us all who died," he called, which made everyone follow him. I knew I couldn't, Evie was wrapping up my wound.

I was only sure that one tribute from Twelve had died along with Rhett, I wasn't sure who else. I heard nine canons go off - each of them about ten seconds apart from the other. That left fifteen tributes - nine of us were in our team alone. I couldn't stand thinking that possibly everyone sitting here right now would be dead soon, so tried pushing the thought out of my head.

When the canons ended, the Panem anthem played once more. All of a sudden - silence. The familiar dim light that was sunset was darker than before - none of us dared to turn on any form of light in case anyone was secretly creeping around, looking for the remaining tributes.

Our other team mates returned, most of them looking normal. David was the only one who looked upset - I knew why. Rhett had died, his little friend. He died in the first forty seconds.

Dylan once again sat down next to me, a strange expression on his face. It was a mixture between shock and realisation - I wasn't quite sure which one he intended it to be,

"'Sup with you?" I asked, watching as Evie tied up the second bandage around my leg,

"Oh, nothing..." Dylan murmured, turning away from me, "I killed someone," he then stated, burying his head in his hands. Evie left, just after I sent my thanks,

"Dylan, it's not your fault..." I started, then realised he was actually crying. I never really known what to do when someone cried - if it was Aimee, I'd give her a hug and start rambling on about girly stuff - but somehow, I didn't think that would have the same effect on Dylan,

"It is, I killed them," he lifted his head - his eyes wet from tears. The rest of the crew began noticing, so I dragged myself into the corner of the den with him, which was easier since I couldn't really feel pain in my wound anymore,

"Was it when you were protecting me?" I asked. He nodded, and when he did so I held his hand, "Then it's my fault, and I'm grateful that you protected me,"

I'd never had any friends that were guys before, apart from David. So holding his hand... I wasn't quite sure if I was meant to do that or not without someone thinking I liked him. Which I didn't, thank you very much.

Dylan blushed slightly - well, I think he did. I couldn't really tell in that light - and stared at our hands,

"Yes - but no, no..." Dylan looked right into my eyes, "If you killed someone, how would that make you feel?"

I didn't even answer.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Since I'd napped practically all day, when nightfall came I didn't feel weary in the slightest. I volunteered to go on watch, but of course Dylan objected,

"Adalyn, you're hurt," he had said, which annoyed me deeply. I was grateful he'd protected me from death, but now it was getting too defensive,

"Dylan, I don't need you to watch my back all the time. If I die out there, it gives you a better chance at winning," I blurted back - not thinking about my actions. The team fell silent,

"Yeah and I don't want you to die!" he yelled back, which echoed across the whole rain forest. It was my fault - if someone was out in the forest, they knew where we were.

Katya pulled out her spear,

"I swear I heard a twig break," she whispered, slowly standing up. Emertxe and Cipe began grabbing weapons,

"Guys," Astrophel breathed, "Don't move,"

Beneath us, I could hear the sound of someone sliding through the swamp. Only one person - but whoever they were, they might be deadly.

Splash. Crack.

Were they climbing the tree? I couldn't tell.

I reached for a dagger that lay on the floor, which was hard since everything was dark. I accidentally grabbed Katya's foot, which made her shriek. She thrust her hand over her mouth afterwards.

Another crack.

Instead of braving whatever was now outside, I slid under a blanket, terrified of dying.

When I felt someone crawl underneath with me, I almost passed out from shock,

"It's me," Dylan whispered, so silently it took me a moment to recognise his voice.

The den suddenly shook - someone had entered,

"Guys, it was a monkey," I heard Evie say, holding a flashlight. I didn't realise we'd had one.

Dylan sat up, throwing the blanket off us. Immediately, everyone gave us strange looks,

"Let's agree on this now, no more yelling," Evie chuckled, and we all did.

Night moved on, and Coburn had been set on watch. As much as I disagreed to it, I was forced to lie down and shut up. Coburn held his weapon - a trident, obviously - and stared into the night from a nearby branch.  
***

I woke up - and to my disappointment, everything was still dark. I had no idea what time it was, so turned to see how Coburn was doing. To my surprise, he was still awake. I was still slightly uneasy being around him after the nightmare, even though I knew he probably was nothing like the way he'd been portrayed,

"Coburn," I whispered, not wanting to wake anybody else up,

"Why are you awake? It's three in the morning," Coburn answered my previous wonderings, shooing me to sleep. I stubbornly dragged myself towards the branch he was sat on,

"I slept all afternoon, you really expect me to drown myself in it even more?" I smirked, which made Coburn chuckle slightly. I didn't know him so well, so I thought I'd socialise a bit since I had time,

"It's weird," he said - I had no idea what he was talking about, "I'm not scared or anything, you know, of dying here," no doubt about eight cameras were on him. He didn't seem like the mass murderer I'd seen in the nightmare at all. I nodded,

"I am," I confessed, pushing my bandana down on my head in an uncomfortable way, "I'm scared of all of you dying,"

Coburn span his trident around in his hands, his blue eyes looked black in the darkness,

"My parents are dead, I was living in a care home with about fourteen other kids," he began, "I want to be back with my parents. They died when I was thirteen, about three years ago now," he bit his lip, "They were arguing with Peacekeepers over where our land was, and then my dad killed one of them with his trident, by accident. He was taken to the Capitol and killed. My mom committed suicide,"

My mouth dropped open - I couldn't imagine something like that ever happening to me. I also couldn't believe Coburn was telling me this, or if he was saying it so the whole of Panem would hear him. Probably the latter,

"Why didn't you... uh..." I didn't want to upset him,

"Die like my Mom did? I couldn't, I have a ten year old sister," Coburn snapped a thin twig off the branch above him, "I guess it doesn't matter anymore, I'm going to die here anyway. I just don't have the courage to you know, hurt myself," he wiped his eyes, stopping himself from breaking. I knew in a second, I probably would.

After a few minutes of silence, Coburn began shooing me away again. This time, I left him alone. I knew he needed time to think.

I lay back down next to Dylan, who squirmed a little,

"..Ayalinn?" he slurred, half asleep,

"Go to sleep, Dylan," I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I kissed the top of his forehead.

When I leaned back, he was well and truly still. Laying back and closing my eyes, I fell into a dreamless sleep.  
***

Canon. A canon.

I launched up, grabbed the dagger I had been reaching for, and stood up. My movement woke up Dylan and Astrophel,

"What?" Astrophel questioned, ripping the blanket away. I was shaking with fear,

"Canon," I whispered, Dylan stood up next to me. Then I saw it.

Sitting on the branch was Coburn, his arm had gone slack. There was no trident in his hands, and he wasn't sleeping. His eyes were open, unblinking and dried out.

My heart beat in fear as I launched towards him, grabbing his arm. What once was his upset being was now a corpse. His lifeless, blue eyes stared at me, with nobody inside to see through them.

Had he killed himself? Why did I leave, it was my fault again!

I scanned his body, and saw no marks whatsoever. Did he strangle himself? There was nothing there to strangle himself with, apart from his bare hands. I didn't think he'd be able to do that, he'd have eventually let go, right?

I looked around the trees, no clues as to how he died. I saw his trident tangled up in a bush below, not a single drop of blood was on it,

"Adalyn -" Dylan held me. I broke - tears began dripping down my face. Moans escaped from my mouth - which woke everyone else up,

"Last night I was talking to him," I coughed between groans, "He said The Capitol killed his dad, and his Mom commited suicide. His ten year old sister - she's - she's alone -" I knew nobody had a clue about what I was talking about, which made it worse,

"Come here," Dylan wrapped his abnormally large arms for a thirteen year old around me, his cheek rested against my head, "He's with them now, and it's good,"

This annoyed me - I shoved him away,

"No it isn't!" I knew I wasn't supposed to yell - but I did. Evie began trying to hush me from behind, "He died alone!"

Dylan hugged me again, and this time, I let him. His warmth comforted me. We slowly sat on the floor - I cried like a toddler throwing a tantrum, soaking his shoulder. I'd cried more in the past 2 and a half weeks than I had ever done in my life.

Silence fell around the den - so all I could hear was Dylan's heartbeat and my occasional sobs.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Two days had passed - all I let myself do was lie around doing nothing. Nobody else died - which in a way was good. The rest of the deaths had upset me enough.

The night Coburn died - when his face flashed in the sky - I had cried again. Dylan had had to comfort me, yet again. Everyone was upset, one of our team had died.

It was late afternoon - the rain had stopped for an hour or so. Cipe tapped my shoulder,

"Get up, Lyn," he said in an uplifting tone, "We're moving, we need to find some water,"

Without saying a word, I dragged myself out and sat on a branch - as far away from the one Coburn had sat on as possible. My leg had healed up, a huge scab had formed, but it still ached a lot.

Astrophel sat with me, her arm pulled into a sling made out of someone's hoodie. I was guessing Emertxe's, since he was leaping around from branch to branch in just the gray jumpsuit,

"How's your leg?" Astrophel asked, probably not wanting to talk about why I was upset,

"It's fine," I mumbled, looking at the bandage, "Just a big scab now,"

Astrophel nodded, then pulled me into a hug,

"I hope you feel better," she gave me a quick smile after letting go, and slowly made her way towards the boys, who were pulling down the den.

The sheets were folded up and shoved back into the pack, food was collected up, and weapons were tied to belts. Dylan had taken my sword along with his, and crossed them both over his back,

"You want carrying?" He assumed I still couldn't walk around. It was annoying me how protective he was being - but I knew he was doing it because he was worried, for a reason I did not know,

"I'm fine," I repeated the answer I gave to Astrophel, pulling myself up. I knew I could walk - but climb? I wasn't that sure.

Cipe took the lead with Evie and Emertxe on our hunt for water.

You'd think with all the rain, we'd just be able to use leaves that had caught water from the rainfall and drink from those. Unfortunately, not a single leaf we saw held a source of water.  
When I looked down towards the floor, the swamp had risen. I had no idea how much it had rained - but the evaporating water and warm temperature made everything extremely humid. Sweat was dripping down my face, which definitely didn't benefit me.

Dylan had tagged along at the back of the crowd with me, effortlessly dodging branches. I found it quite amusing - he looked graceful as he stepped from one branch to another.

I chuckled to myself, which caught Dylan's attention,

"What?" He smirked, stopping as I stood next to him,

"Nothing," I smiled back - the first positive action I had done in the past day. Dylan smiled back, and began elegantly climbing through the forest again.

Up ahead, I caught David looking at us both. He was pulling an expression that made him seem amused before he started chatting to Katya and Astrophel, also climbing effortlessly.

Climbing trees was as easy as walking for us - after all, David and I had grown up around them.

I would have sent back a scowl if he'd been looking - why was he doing that?

We'd been scrambling around through the trees for about two hours - I had stripped my hoodie, undone the top of my jumpsuit, so that the top of my thermals were left in the open. And I was still sweltering

I prayed for rain - anything that would cool me down. A form of water would have been a delight right at that moment.

But instead, what did we find?

A clearing. Not of grass. A clearing of dried, cracked dirt.

I flopped down on a branch, realising we'd moved for no reason at all,

"What now?" David huffed, his face was a shocking shade of cherry,

"Keep going," Cipe began descending out of the tree, careful not to get his bag caught,

"Uh, there's nothing there?" David suggested, "It doesn't take Sherlock to figure that out,"

Cipe laughed quietly,

"If you paid attention last night, you'd have heard that Claudius said there were extra supplies out in the dry land. We found it, so let's go,"

I grumbled, forcing myself down out of the treetops that I had become so familiar with.

When my booted feet hit the ground - sure enough, everything was brittle and dry. When I took a closer look at the trees, they looked half dead.

I peered out at the horizon, and if I looked hard enough I could see a huge rock right in the middle of the blue-skied horizon. To my delight, a large sheet of gray clouds covered half of the sky,

"Rain, at last," Dylan burst, sweat had coated his face in a shiny layer. I moaned, then began trudging forward,

"If the supplies are at that rock, I really don't want to walk that far,"

Shocking me, Dylan grabbed my hand and began pulling me along,

"I'll pull you there then, the quicker you move, the better!" He grinned at me, though I didn't grin back. I wasn't so sure if I was comfortable holding his hand, but I didn't let go.

Behind me, I could hear Katya, Astrophel and Evie giggling amongst themselves, and when I heard my name next to Dylan's I knew what they were saying.

I turned back to look at them, scowled, but couldn't do so for long. I let out a girly snicker of my own.

My feet ached - I really wanted water. The rain clouds were above us now, but rain just wouldn't fall. I was so impatient, I began yelling at the sky,

"Just rain already!" I caught Dylan glance at me. We weren't holding hands anymore, which made the situation a lot less awkward. As he looked away, I saw a flash of lightning, and heard thunder less than a second after it. Storm was overhead, did that mean rain?

To my delight, a raindrop landed right on my nose. As more drops fell - I grinned. Dylan began laughing manically,

"Yes!" He began putting his hands into a bowl shape, trying to catch the rain water.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that heavy, but was refreshing enough. Dylan was running around in the rain, his arms out as if he was being a kid pretending to be a plane. The term 'insane' was incorrect to describe him,

"Dylan, you look so stupid," David yelled, grinning. Not having a toothbrush out here had changed his once white smile to a slightly creamy colour, but it was still welcoming all the same.

I hadn't spoken to David in the past two days, and the same with everyone else. I only spoke to Dylan, I had no idea why, I just did.

The rain began falling heavier - heavy enough to drench us completely. Nobody cared - the rain was beautiful, along with the lightning in the sky. I wondered if it was actually real - but then again, nothing in the arena was ever real.

Apart from the mass of supplies I saw right in front of me.

Piles of boxes - literally - were stacked by the huge rock. The whole team grinned - and all of us attacked the boxes.

I grabbed a green one, which was full of clothes. I was already stripping off my jumpsuit,

"Adalyn, there's people here," Astrophel laughed, "You might want to strip somewhere else,"  
I punched her playfully,

"Shush," I grinned, grabbing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, some underwear, along with a pair of leather boots, then hiding out somewhere to change. The cool fabric was soft against my skin, and since the rain had washed all of the grease out of my hair, I felt like I'd just hopped out of one of the showers in The Capitol again - well, not really, but you get the picture.

The supplies had also contained tents, so after we had all changed into something decent we were pitching them up. I was helping David, who knew how to work the poles, unlike me, who just ended up dropping them on the floor hopelessly,

"So, you and Dylan," David winked at me in the most revolting way, "You're friendly,"

"Yeah, he's my friend. Clue's in the name, he's just like all of you," I held the tent up whilst he pushed a pole into place,

"I'm not judging, was just starting conversation. Do you feel better now?" He asked, beginning to assemble another pole. I held the tent up again,

"Yeah, I guess, it just shocked me..." I trailed off, thinking about poor Coburn. Was he with his parents now? But what about his sister? If I could have gone to District Four right then, I would have done.

David put his loving hand on my shoulder,

"I'm sure he's happier," he patted my shoulder, pushing the last pole into place, "Okay, you gonna share with Dylan?" David lengthened Dylan's name, so he was teasing,

"No!" I hit him, grinning stupidly. David laughed, and hit me back. We continued play fighting, until we heard someone unfamiliar behind us,

"Oh, hey. Careers hogging all the supplies? I think not," two tributes from Five and one from Eight stood beside us, one of them was armed with poison darts.

I stared for a few seconds, then sprinted for my life,

"Guys! We have company!"


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

My sword - it was in the tent. I had nothing to defend myself with. I didn't have time to root through the boxes. I could only use my bare hands, which definitely wouldn't defend me from poison darts.

I dove behind the enormous rock, which was a huge mistake. Both of the District Fives came around from the sides, luckily neither of them held the poison darts. Only, when I looked at their belts, knives and daggers had been foraged from other tributes and had now become their own. I couldn't even scream - I was going to die.

My heart beat like a drum - pounding so loud I swear that the two tributes could hear it. When I looked at their faces, they were grinning at me as if they were insane, which the arena had probably done to them,

"If we kill this one, we can kill her brother too," the female tribute said, slowly pointing the dagger at me neck. As the cool blade touched my throat, I flinched, which caused the sharp edge to pierce my skin slightly. Luckily, it wasn't anything serious or too painful. I felt a small drop of blood trickle down my neck, which made the girl smile.

Behind the boxes of supplies, I noticed Dylan was watching, his eyes wide. He was so steady with his feet, it took me a second to realise he was actually moving around.

I kept my scared face on, making eye contact with the girl,

"Just kill her already!" The male said, he looked about seventeen. His blonde hair and blue eyes reminded me of Coburn - only he wasn't as muscled or tanned. The images came back, and it took nearly all I had to hide my emotions.

Dylan was now in sight, and I realised why he was so quiet. He hadn't put any shoes on, and since the ground had no rocks of weeds to injure his feet, he seemed to walk around effortlessly.

It happened so fast, it was like a blur - Dylan smashed his sword through the back of the female tribute, which almost instantly set off a canon. The male watched as the corpse landed at my feet, blood pouring from the spot where the sword stuck out. I couldn't look, or I'd end up throwing up all over the remains.

The male from Five began trying to kill Dylan with his many knives and daggers - Dylan hadn't had time to grab his sword. They rolled around on the floor, and I could tell that Dylan was no match for that huge seventeen year old. A knife was plunged into Dylan's shoulder, along with his gruelling cries of pain,

"Dylan!" I shrieked, immediately grabbing a knife from the corpse's belt. I began aiming at the tribute, who was raising his knife above Dylan's fast-moving chest.

The knife span through the air - and to my horror, it missed. I couldn't watch Dylan die - so I did the stupidest thing I could have done. I smashed myself into the tribute, which sent him flying off Dylan, who was still blaring in pain, his blue shirt was slowly changing into a sickening purple colour where the knife had ripped his skin.

The knife I had thrown lay next to me, so I grasped it tightly and stabbed the tribute in the leg. It didn't seem to affect him - it made him angrier. What had I done? I had just literally signed myself into my death sentence. With wide eyes, I watched as he began clambering over to me, at least six inches taller.

I heard feet from behind me - and saw Evie rushing over, with Emertxe's bow. When I looked even further behind her, I saw the tribute from Eight had sprinted away.

The District Five stopped charging at me, staring lethally at Evie. His belt contained at least seven knives and daggers, with one already in his hand,

"Aww, defending your little buddy?" He taunted, and lobbed the knife at her,

"No!" I heard the agonised yelp of Cipe, who had shoved Evie to the floor along with himself. The knife, instead of killing Evie on the spot, sliced a box open, which was better than having more corpses or dead friends.

He stared at us for a few seconds, then began leaping over our supplies after his ally. I didn't dare go after him, even though he would have been vulnerable and easy to target with a wound in his leg.

Then I remembered - Dylan.

He was firmly grasping his shoulder as I fell to his side. Slashing open the shirt with the knife I held, I began examining the injury. I couldn't look - it was so deep, and puss was beginning to gush out of it in torrents, with extensive streaks of red blood,

"Oh my gosh..." Evie had fallen to her knees next to us, our healer. She had attached bandages and a few different medicines to her belt, which had come from the supplies,

"Do something!" I screamed, my vision blurred from tears, "He can't die!" I grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. Evie nodded, then propped him up into a sitting position. A painful yowl was released from his throat, which made me take both of his hands. I knew what Evie was doing - a heavily bleeding injury had to be lifted above heart level.

Cipe sat watching from afar, looking completely mortified. If he hadn't already been sprinting over, his love would have been dead. I understood how he felt - if David had almost died, I wouldn't want to do much other than imagine what may have happened.

When a huge flow of wind began batting my hair against my back, I knew the hovercraft had come to take the girl's corpse. I didn't even know her name – Sophie, was it? - She looked no older than fifteen. I couldn't even bear to count how many tributes were left after the turn of events.

Dylan's eyes were bursting with tears as Evie tore the remains of his shirt off, then poured fresh water over the wound. When she applied medicines, Dylan began to cry out in pain in such a way that I just couldn't bear. I tried to blank everything out, but could only hear the echoing of his cries bounce around inside my cranium.

When the cries stopped, and Evie's soothing voice told me she was going to get some water to help him swallow some tablets, I entered reality. I realised my eyes had been squeezed shut, so thrust them open. Dylan was staring at me, looking fatigued. Personally, I didn't blame him - being stabbed really wasn't a lovely feeling,

"You're okay," I stated the obvious. I knew he was probably in pain, but wrapped my arms firmly around his bare chest. He didn't do so back, but pressed his face into my shoulder,

"I thought -" He stopped, averting his gaze to his feet, "I thought you were going to die,"

I stirred my body away, and held his cheeks in my hands to obtain his attention. I smiled,

"Dylan, it takes a lot more than that for me to die," I tried to joke, adding a half hearted snort. He smiled,

"Good. I don't really want to stand around here without you," he tightened his good arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a warm hug.

For the first time in the Games, I felt an affable feeling inside.

Three days in the arena had dragged - food was rationed, even though we had plenty of it, when heavy storms came we rinsed the grease and powdery dirt off our coarse skin, and we slept when we felt tired. So imagine what it was like after three and a half weeks, and the food and water was beginning to run out.

David and Cipe were quarrelling whether we should move back to the forest or just hunt for food. Not a single tribute had been killed in the past three weeks - the longest length of time in history that a tribute hadn't been slaughtered. Normally, someone would have been killed by the game makers by now, but they seemed to be keeping themselves to themselves. Perhaps the rain had flooded the forest more, which meant tributes would have had to camp out higher up in the trees.

It had finally been decided that we would move back to the forest. I really didn't want to - having my own tent that I shared with Astrophel, Katya and Evie had been a blast. I'd gotten to know them more, and I could safely say that they were the nicest Careers in the whole history of the Hunger Games. I had gotten used to the isolated atmosphere of the dry land, where there was nobody I had to fight. Now I had to re-enter the boggy battlefield, the one back in the treetops.

Any form of medicine was given to Evie, and the remaining scraps of food were given to Cipe to carry. The rest of us grabbed whatever was left - blankets, clothes, waterproof sheets, and not forgetting our large hammock.

Dylan's shoulder was healing up into a rather impressive looking scar - it looked like a skew-whiff, diagonal L. He had told me it still hurt sometimes, so he couldn't swing a sword around, or probably have been able to do anything with his right arm at all.

It was raining as we walked, though nobody had really cared. The rain here was extremely heavy, so if you held a container out it would fill up with water in the space of about fifteen minutes. It took about an hour to walk from the rock back to the rainforest, the most hushed journey I had ever experienced. Luckily, the sound of rain splashing against the floor was all the sound I needed as the forest once again came into view.

The trees weren't as deceased looking - rain water had caused everything to grow a lot more,

"Better get going," David put forth from behind me, heaving himself up a tree, still effortlessly even though he hadn't seen a tree in the past three weeks.

I turned to Dylan, who was eyeing the trees up anxiously,

"I can't climb with my shoulder," he looked at me. Ever since he'd been stabbed, a hollow, disheartening look always seemed to loiter in his golden eyes. I took his hand for the first time since,

"Let me help you," I whispered, though I didn't intend to. I deliberately picked low branches to make it as trouble-free as possible. Trees were literally fighting for space in the arena, so it wasn't too difficult to climb up.

The tree tops were just as beautiful as before - greenery everywhere, sometimes a bird or monkey would show their face. The rain was still falling, splashing against the leaves that rustled in reply.

Our team rested for a while, mostly in silence. Unlike everyone else, Dylan and I were chatting together,

"Thanks for helping me," he started, not smiling. The accident had really changed him - his hair was never ruffled and that cheeky smirk never lingered on his lips,

"It's okay, you needed help," I would have put my hand on his shoulder, but I wasn't sure if it would hurt him or not,

"Adalyn, I need to tell you something -" Dylan was interrupted by a crack, one that literally pierced our ears. We scrambled away from behind our tree, to see what it was. Not too far away, trees were being knocked to the floor, just like dominos. When one fell, another fell, and the pattern continued. It didn't take long to realise why.  
The swamps had become so overflowed, a mudslide had occurred,

"Get out into the dry land!" I heard Cipe bellow, throwing himself out of the tree he was sat in. We were about seven metres in the air - but hopefully the floor would cushion our drop. Only I forgot - it would hurt Dylan more than me.

As if reading my mind, Dylan yelled, "Just jump!" and dropped out of the tree. I followed, landing front- first into the soft undergrowth.

I was dragged up by David, back into the dry land.

When I looked back - a wave of green, brown and mashed up wood was surging madly through the once almost peaceful rainforest. I knew it was the game makers - they were "spicing things up".

That's when I saw it - Astrophel and Emertxe were last to make it to the dry land, narrowly missing the tsunami of earth.

Everything would have been perfect - if a half cracked tree from the mudslide hadn't landed right on top of Astrophel's chest.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Emertxe was the first to react – profanity fell from his opened mouth as he tried pushing the tree off Astrophel. I couldn't see her - Emertxe was blocking the view. Immediately, David and Cipe sprinted towards the tree and began pushing it away from Astrophel. When it wouldn't budge, I dragged Evie and Dylan over to help push it away.

When the tree was off her chest, Emertxe fell to the floor, sobbing and coughing,

"No," he stared at the place where the tree had landed - I could tell her ribs were broken. Her torso curved in unnaturally just above her stomach,

"Can't.. breathe.." Astrophel croaked, tears escaping from her large, brown eyes. She couldn't even sob - it hurt her too much. I could only watch, hoping... I couldn't even think _that_,

"Don't die, just don't die!" Emertxe forced his hands into hers. From where I was standing, I couldn't see his face. I decided I didn't want to.

Evie was crouched down, tears rolling down her cheeks. Being a healer, she had all the pressure to stop us from dying. When she put a hand on Emertxe's broad shoulder, I knew she couldn't fix Astrophel.

Emertxe cried even harder, placing his head on Astrophel's shoulder. She tightened her arm around his head, and kissed his forehead. I didn't want to watch - but I had to. I didn't want to have to ask anyone about any of this later,

"Emertxe... I'm sorry..." Astrophel's voice cracked, tears rolled down her cheeks and landed in Emertxe's greasy, once blond, hair.

Seeing another one of us dying - I wasn't sure what happened. I felt as if it was my fault, I could have just killed myself and given her a better chance at winning. If I had died when the tributes from Five were there, would Astrophel have not been hit by that tree?

I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, hot and sickly against my cheeks. Dylan put his good arm around my shoulders, the same distant look still in his eyes. The games had done that, The Capitol had done that. The games had changed each and every one of us, and now one of us was dying purely for entertainment. It made me feel sick with fury,

"Please," I heard Emertxe's muffled voice, "Don't go," he lifted his head, and when Astrophel's shoulder came into view, it was well and truly soaked,

"I think.. I can hang on for a while..." her voice was weak, but not to the point where you could barely hear it. Evie pulled a small box out of her bag - pain killers. She took the small ration of water we had - poured it into a paper cup, and added the pain killers. I could tell Astrophel found it difficult to swallow the tablets. Fingers laced with Emertxe's, Astrophel took in a deep breath, "One of you... win for me... oh my gosh, I can feel myself dying..." Astrophel cried, squeezing her eyes shut, "Stay with me,"

All of us simultaneously sat by her - all of us were crying. If she had died back when Coburn had, it wouldn't have been as painful as it was. I had gotten so attached, when I told myself I shouldn't. I should have stuck to my plan, then maybe Astrophel and Coburn would still have survived.

Emertxe leaned towards Astrophel's shoulder again, and I thought he was crying again. Instead, I saw his jaw moving, so he must have whispered something in Astrophel's ear. When he leaned back to see her face, she was smiling,

"Me too," she whispered, lifting her arm up weakly to caress his cheek. When she did so, Emertxe leaned towards her and kissed her, a gesture to show he cared about her and that he was saying farewell. As he lifted his head again, Astrophel's breaths became slower, "I love..."

She didn't even finish her sentence. The canon fired - and I knew that she was gone.

A pang of horror shot through my chest, which caused me to break down there and then.

Our friend, and in Emertxe's case his love, had just died right in front of us. I had never witnessed someone dying right before me, and hadn't planned on it at all. The pain - I just can't describe it. It's like someone cut off your arm or leg, and left you there to sort out your own problems. Something was missing that you needed back more than anything,

"Astrophel..." Emertxe mourned, stroking her cheek. He hugged Astrophel's corpse, knowing that it wouldn't hurt her anymore if he did so.

None of us dared to ask Emertxe if we could leave. He continued grieving, shaking her shoulders to see if she had just fallen unconscious, even though we all know she'd gone as the canon had fired. I took the limp hand that Emertxe had let go of - it was already going cold. Emertxe kissed Astrophel's cheek, then looked at us,

"I'm going to kill the game makers if I make it out of this -" he paused, and began swearing ridiculously. None of us stopped him - until he began sobbing again. David was the first to comfort him, in a brotherly kind of way.

That day, I was sure I had been changed eternally.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

When the hovercraft had taken Astrophel's body, none of us had dared to speak. Emertxe was heartbroken, and none of us could ever do anything to make him pull through from his loss.

When I looked back at the once full of life rainforest, all I saw was a few patches where trees had managed to stay standing and pools of mud where there weren't any. I didn't understand how Astrophel had been the only one who had died,

"What now?" Katya asked, her face looked sticky with tears. She grasped a spear securely in her left hand, as if she was expecting someone to spring at her at any second,

"We should leave all our containers out so we can collect water the next time it rains," Cipe sighed, looking rather battered from his drop out of the trees.

That was all anyone said - nobody wanted to speak. We had about twelve containers all together. That's when we heard it - someone singing,

"Ring a ring a roses..." The voice was a girl - which meant it was someone from Four, Six or Eight. When I saw a flash of blonde hair from the remains of the forest, I knew it was Anise,

"Adalyn," Dylan had launched to his sword, "Stay here,"

And with that, he sprinted towards the forest. No one yelled after him.

So instead, I followed him.

Since I wasn't wearing my jumpsuit, my shoes were coming off my feet in the mud. Sharp thorns scratched at my legs from bushes that were half torn out of the ground. It generally wasn't an experience I had been longing to endure.

When I saw Anise, she looked just as insane as she had back in The Capitol. In her hands she held flowers - I didn't know what kind, but they weren't familiar to me,

"A pocket full of poses," she chimed, her voice floated around the broken forest like a calm breeze. Dylan was walking up to her,

"What the heck are you doing?" He lifted his sword up, ready to fight Anise. She stared at him with large, gray eyes,

"Do you want to play?" She said, pulling a small bottle from her waist, "Atishoo, atishoo," the rhyme was old, so old I didn't even think I recognised it until that moment. I watched the scene from behind a tree, but didn't seem to have been well hidden. Anise pointed at me, her head at an angle,

"We all fall down," she finished, and sprinted at me so fast I didn't have time to react. She pressed me to the floor, and held me down. Her fair curls hid her face, "Do you want to play too?"

"Get off her!" Dylan yelled, charging towards us. Anise looked at him innocently,

"You aren't playing fair," she replied in a sing-song voice, putting the bottle back where it hung from her belt.

She didn't show any emotions as she leapt off me, then fled back into the forest,

"Thanks," I mumbled as Dylan thrust his hand out for me to grab, then pulled me up.

Suddenly, he pushed me up against a tree, his hands digging into my shoulders,

"What the heck were you thinking? Why did you follow me?" His eyes were full of anger as they stared into mine, "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

I shoved him away from me, which was easier said than done,

"Oh yeah? Well I'm going to die anyway, so why does it matter?" I snarled back, which made Dylan let go of me. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration,

"You aren't, because I'm going to protect you!" Dylan yelled right in my face, then began walking away,

"Okay," I sighed, beginning to walk back to the others, "But I don't need protecting,"

Dylan stayed in the forest. I didn't know whether he would come back, and at that moment I didn't care at all. I had continued back to camp, the sky dark. A thunderstorm.

We feasted on the water, fresh from the containers. Dylan hadn't showed his face - we were too greedy to have even cared. We only cared about satisfying our own needs.

When David had drained his third container full, he looked around,

"Guys, where's Dylan?" He stood up, instantly grabbing his axe,

"The last time I saw him he was sulking in the forest," I gulped down some water, "Just after we heard the singing,"

David scowled at me, "Adalyn, that was two hours ago,"

As if on cue, a canon set off. I yelped, then sprinted off into the forest, taking my sword with me,

"Dylan!"  
***

The forest was gloomy, with barely any brightness - I didn't have the flashlight, so I had no light to use. I could have sat around and tried getting a spark from some rocks, but didn't try. I had to find Dylan - if he died, I would have lost yet another friend. Probably the closest one I had had at that time.

Snap. A twig broke behind me, and then another. I swung my sword around; making sure nothing was in distance of murdering me. Then again, someone might have had a long range weapon. What if the girl from Eight still had her poison darts?

I wanted to yell out - but knew I couldn't reveal my location. But what if it was Dylan?

Not being able to see the floor wasn't useful - I ended up tripping over something large and cold. At first, I thought it was some kind of rock. Only, it wasn't.

Underneath my legs, a sword sticking out of her chest, was the girl from Eight. I knew instantly Dylan had done it, as I recognised the sword,

"Dylan!" I screamed, scrambling away from the body. I shook with terror, knowing that I had just fallen over a corpse,

"Adalyn?" I heard Dylan's voice somewhere to my left. I began hyperventilating, then flinched as I felt Dylan lift me up off the floor,

"You - you - you... you killed her!" I stuttered, shaking him off me, "You freaking killed her for no reason!" Not thinking of my actions, I slapped him right across the face. I hadn't intended to slap him so hard, "I'm sorry..." I held his face, which I could now see since my eyes had adjusted to the dark,

"If I had known you could do that, I would have allied you in the first five seconds I set my eyes on you," for the first time in about a month, Dylan smirked. As he did so, the rush of air from the hovercraft began circling us, which made us run into the night.

I didn't have any idea where we were, or where the team was, but when we smashed into two other life forms, I thought I'd found them,

"Vel!" the girl tribute yelled, pushing me right off them, "Run!"

These weren't the tributes from Five. It didn't take me long to realise they were from Six,

"Ikki," the male began reaching for his District partner. Dylan had his sword out,

"Dylan, don't," I snatched his arm, which made him lower his sword, "They don't have any weapons,"

Vel and Ikki, looking well and truly weather-beaten, stared at us with outsized eyes. They were both shorter than us, but looked about the same age, "I won't hurt you, if he does I'll kill him," I pushed my sword back into my belt.

I heard running from behind me, a flare of light. I heard Cipe yelling,

"Adalyn! Move!" Cipe was holding three knives, and chucked one right at Dylan and I. Both of us rapidly fell to the floor, then heard a familiar sound that was the piercing of skin. Vel fell to the floor, a knife sticking out of his chest. I screamed:

"Cipe what the hell are you doing!" but was completely ignored. Ikki revealed a dagger from her bag, and threw it towards Evie. Cipe dove in front of her, taking in the blow. I shrieked - no. He couldn't die. _Nobody_ else needed to die.

Ikki pulled the knife right out of Vel's chest, tears streaming down her face. I hardly new Vel, but it made me upset knowing that he had died for nothing.

Then I turned to Cipe, lying on the floor. He took the shot protecting his love. That distressed me even more. Evie sat at his side, trying to heal him.

Everything dragged - it was like a war. Dylan shoved Ikki into a tree, which made her look as if she was about to faint. A canon went off - Vel's. I sat up, beginning to cry once more.

Katya chucked her spear towards Ikki, which landed right in her chest. She dropped to the floor next to Vel, breathing heavily.

I pulled myself away from the fighting, away from people killing each other. I couldn't believe they wanted to kill. Living with it - I just wouldn't be able to.

Another canon went off. Either Ikki or Cipe.

Tears and snot stuck to my face as I stumbled through the mud, losing one of my boots. I didn't bother going back for it - I carried on into the dark, crying. Why did these games have to exist? Why was everyone fighting?

I collapsed in a heap on the floor, letting everything out. Wailing and screeching, I didn't care if the tribute from Five killed me - I just wanted to get out of here.

I heard two more canons. Hang on - two?

I sat up, heart pounding against my rib cage. Sprinting back to the battle scene, it looked like things had calmed down.

Evie held Cipe up to her chest, crying the same way Emertxe had. Blood stained his shirt, his limp arm was at a funny angle,

"No," I whispered, seeing Emertxe was crying over Cipe too. I looked around to find Dylan, who stood with his back facing me.

When I walked over, standing about a foot behind him, I saw the male from Five on the floor, a sword stuck out of his chest. Dylan seemed to sense my company,

"He tried to kill me," Dylan's voice sounded fractured. I hated seeing him the way he was - all of us were the same. We were broken goods, damaged by The Capitol,

"Don't cry, you were defending yourself," I hugged him from behind, my cheek rested between his shoulder blades,

"He was running after you, actually. I got in his way, and he tried to kill me," he coughed. He had kept to his word - he was protecting me,

"Dylan..." I choked, beginning to sob with him. Cipe's smiling face crossed my mind - which just made it worse. He was gone, and so were the two innocent people from District Six.

That meant only Evie, Dylan, David, Emertxe, Katya, Anise and myself remained. The final seven,

"Congratulations remaining tributes! You've made it into the final seven!" Claudius's voice echoed through the arena, "As six of the seven of you are allies, we've decided to make it compulsory that you must travel around in pairs. Anyone in more than a pair will unfortunately be met with a painful farewell from the arena. Good luck, tributes," Claudius's voice sounded bitter, as if he honestly didn't want to say that.

And you know what this meant? I would end up losing most of my allies.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Dylan and I pairing up was obviously going to happen, he had dragged me over to him and nobody had said a word. It ended up with Katya and Evie allying and then David and Emertxe. I couldn't stand the thought of David being my enemy - or anyone else, for that matter. Our goodbyes were brief - just in case it set off the game maker's sick minded ways to kill us.

I had no idea what time it was - the only clue was that it was still dark. I hadn't realised until then that I was incredibly drained, and that we had no supplies at all. I quickly foraged a pack from the remains of the war, and a single pack of raisins.

Holding my hand, which I hadn't expected, Dylan led me out of the area we had been fighting. Evie had taken the flashlight, so we had to rely on our own eyesight in the darkness,

"Dylan," I slurred, "Tired," my eyelids felt heavy,

"Oh," Dylan stopped, and lifted me up. I would have protested - but I was too tired to reply.

My eyes shut, and I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, the sun was blissful on my rough skin. I was lying in some dried up mud, Dylan was sat a few metres away. I wondered if he had slept at all. I coughed loudly, to get his attention,

"Oh, morning," he trudged over, opening the pack of raisins, "Want some? You look like you could use some food," he held the muddy packet out, offering the food to me,

"You have them, I'll find something later," I sat up and stretched my arms out, then slouched back lazily. Dylan shoved the pack in my face, which made raisins fall all over my grubby shirt, "Hey!" I threw them at him. Our only supply of food was now being thrown around as if it was nothing, but because of the circumstances we were in, it was our only way to replenish our hunger. He threw them back at me, smiling as he did so,

"I'll win!" he laughed, pouring the remains of the packet over my head. Wonderful, I had muddy raisins all over my bandanna and unwashed hair,

"Ugh, Dylan!" I shoved him playfully, trying to put on a scowl. It didn't work, I just ended up falling on to the muddy floor and laughing so hard my stomach hurt, which was kind of selfish since I'd just seen most of my allies die, and was no longer allowed to see my brother unless it involved one of us being murdered. I stopped laughing,

"What's up?" Dylan placed his dry hand on my shoulder comfortingly. I sighed, and looked into his golden eyes,

"They're gone," I mumbled, "This is it, isn't it?" I stared at my feet - one of them had a muddy boot, the other had a half torn off sock,

"I won't kill you if you don't kill me," Dylan stuck his hand out, gesturing to me to shake it. I took it, shaking it half heartedly,

"I don't want to kill anyone," I stood up, looking around for my sword. It lay next to Dylan's by a tree, and when I looked behind it I saw Anise and Katya talking to one another. I rushed over to the tree, seeing if I could hear what was going on. I couldn't, but watched them anyway. Anise handed some bread over to Katya - no doubt from a sponsor - who shovelled the food in her mouth greedily. Anise still had that emotionless expression pasted across her tanned face,

"What are you doing?" Dylan crept up behind me, causing me to almost jump out my skin,

"Look," I whispered, gesturing towards Anise and Katya. As I did so, Katya began coughing and spluttering. At first I thought she'd just eaten the bread so fast she'd got some caught in her throat, but no. A canon fired, and she fell to the floor. Dead in less than ten seconds.

My mouth dropped open. Six of us left.

Dylan began running over, undoubtedly to kill her. I grabbed his sleeve,

"Dylan, no," I shook my head, "If she kills you, I won't ever forgive myself," he turned to face me,

"We need to move. This will end today," Dylan said firmly, marching in the opposite direction of Anise, I didn't understand what he was doing. I followed anyway, since he was now the only ally I had.

I didn't bother trying to be attentive as we walked through the irregular forest - I was going to die no matter what. Dylan would win these games, and I had known it inside for a long time,

"Dylan, if someone injures me," I started, swallowing before I said what I wanted to say, "Please kill me,"

Dylan stopped, turning to face me,

"Adalyn, I could never kill you," he told me clearly, "Even if we're the last two, I could never ever kill you, for a reason I don't want to explain right now,"

It touched me to know that he cared about me so much. I didn't know him as well as his best friend or family members, but we'd been through hell together. We'd watched people die together. We understood how one another felt. If we could have both won, I'd have made sure that had happened. But of course, it couldn't,

"I could never kill you either," I replied. As I said that, I could hear yelling from quite far away.

The voices were deep, so I could tell it was Emertxe and David. Oh God - _David_.

Dylan seemed to notice the panic in my eyes, and quickly kissed my cheek. Before I could say anything, he had run towards the screaming.

And so, the end had begun.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Dylan and I didn't bother with a shocker - we jumped into the scene well noticed. David, Emertxe, Evie and Anise had all appeared too. Had the game maker's brought us all together somehow? I wouldn't have known.

Anise had shown her first emotion of the entire Games - a scowl. Evie held Anise's bag of flowers,

"It isn't nice to not play fairly," Anise exposed the poison darts that the girl from Eight had had, and threw one at Evie. Emertxe instantly shoved Evie out of its path, and took the dart right in his chest. Blood squirted out on to his shirt - along with a gagging sound coming from his throat. I screamed, ploughing over to him,

"Emertxe!" I yelled in his ear as I dove towards him. He was shaking from the poison, and grabbed my arms, keeping me put in an awkward position,

"It's okay," he managed, looking at the dart in his chest, "I'll be with Astrophel. My Astrophel, I'll be with her forever, yes?"

I couldn't hold the tears inside. I burst out and released a pained groan, tears beginning to pour out of my eyes. I didn't know how - I hadn't thought I'd have had much water left inside me,

"Say hi to the others for me," I choked, resting my head on his shoulder. I grabbed his shirt, probably hurting him - I didn't want Emertxe to die. I hadn't wanted anyone to die,

"Don't cry, Adalyn," Emertxe was shaking so violently, it was awkward to rest my head on his shoulder, "I want this, I want to see Astrophel," His protests didn't exactly convince me, though I knew he wanted to see his love again.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Dylan chasing Anise around. He was hopeless - Anise could effortlessly weave in and out of the broken forest. Dylan found it hard to leap over the fallen trees like she did,

"Ring a ring a roses," Anise chimed, as if she was finding it amusing that Dylan just couldn't catch her, "A pocket full of poses,"

Emertxe's shaking became less violent, which meant his canon would fire soon. I panicked,

"Please don't die," I cried, letting my tears dampen his shirt. He let a weak smile lighten his face in the most miserable way,

"I won't," as the words fell out of his mouth, his eyes rolled back and the canon fired. Five.  
I sobbed into his lifeless shoulder. Why did he have to die? 'I won't' he had said.

"Lying imbecile!" I let slip out of my mouth. I heard Dylan behind me,

"What was that?" Dylan was behind me, no longer chasing Anise around. I shook my head, standing up,

"Nothing," I grunted. I spied Anise creeping up behind Evie, "No!" I shrieked, as the second poison dart was released. It hit Evie right in the throat - her canon fired almost instantly. Four. I would have rushed over, but realised there would be no point.

Dylan sprinted over so fast, it would have been a miracle if Anise hadn't gone down. He smashed the sword right through her stomach, sending her to the floor. Blood instantly poured from the wound, staining her jumpsuit.

I ran over, though she was my enemy, I couldn't bear to watch her die. She looked up at me, her chest rising and falling erratically,

"Ring a ring a roses, a pocket full of poses. Atishoo, Atishoo, we all fall down," Anise sang, then smiled "I lose,"

Her canon fired, with blood still pouring from her gaping wound. Three.

I turned to see the two boys giving me the same expressions - complete despair. It wasn't supposed to end that way - I was supposed to have died like Karl Walker. In the first three minutes.

Dylan pulled his sword out of Anise's unmoving chest,

"Dylan, what are you doing?" I asked him, as he walked towards David and I. His expression was blank.

To my absolute disgust - he thrust his sword right into David's chest. A scream escaped from my mouth as David's axe thudded against the forest floor,

"David!" I yelled so loudly I thought I might burst his ear drum, "David! David!"

I couldn't see - a waterfall of tears instantly poured out of my eyes, blurring my vision. It didn't register: David, dying. They didn't belong in the same sentence.

I carefully removed the sword from his body, along with an abundance of blood. The gash was too deep - I knew this was it,

"Lynny, you have to win," David croaked. I gently pressed down on his injury, trying to stop the blood. It seeped through my fingers - staining my hands with a deep shade of scarlet. Rage instantly replaced anything I had ever felt for Dylan - he killed my brother. Right in front of me, too.

Profanity wasn't enough to describe what I thought of him,

"David, I'm going to kill -" a colourful selection of words rolled from my tongue, describing what I thought of Dylan at that very moment. David chuckled weakly,

"Lynny, tell Mom and Dad I love them. Don't die here, okay? Die as an old, elderly woman with a wonderful husband and lots of children and grandchildren," David's hand tightened around mine, "I love you, Lynny,"

My tears dropped down on to his shirt,

"David, I love you too," I choked, pulling him into one last hug, and swearing to keep the promise he'd requested. My ears rang from disbelief. When I pulled myself back up, his canon fired. I wasn't quite sure it had at first, but realised it when I couldn't feel his heart pounding beneath my bloody hand.

And it was all Dylan's fault.

I stood up, feeling unwell with this new emotion I felt. Anger was a complete and utter understatement. My closest friend in these games had killed my amazing brother, and I honestly would not stand for it,

"Adalyn -" Dylan began. I grabbed the axe David had dropped, even though I knew Dylan would probably kill me. That lying traitor - he was probably putting on his friendy-lovey act to manipulate me, so he could kill me in the most painful way possible,

"Don't you dare talk to me, you disgusting jerk," I stormed up to him, and punched him right in the jaw. He hadn't expected me to, so he ended up smacking the floor hard,

"I did it because I want you to win!" Dylan defended himself, "I care about you, more than you'll ever know! I was too scared to ever tell you, and now it'll never matter. You hate me, and you always will. I hate _myself_, I really do, so just _kill me_!"

Oh, his sweet little acting. If only he hadn't been chosen for the Games - he might have been quite famous for his acting. I laughed, mocking him in my rage,

"Oh, you're worse than dead, believe me," I growled, fiercely glaring into his eyes.

I smashed the axe right into his chest - practically splitting it in half. He yelped in immense pain - good. I wanted him to feel the pain he'd brought upon me,

"Adalyn, I'm so sorry, please don't hate me," Dylan wheezed, dying right before me. I just wanted him dead, forgotten, no longer existing. I wanted to forget I ever thought of him as someone who may have cared, someone who was my _friend_.

"I will never forgive you. I hope you rot in hell, you disgusting pig." I kicked him in the head, making his pain worse, "I hope your family hates you, I hope your friends hate you. Just die, you _little monster_!"

Dylan stared at me, his golden eyes imitating those of a puppy. I stared him down evilly, "Just die." I repeated,

"I'm sorry..." his breathing began slowing.

The canon fired. I had won,

"Congratulations, Adalyn Farron! Victor of the Seventy Second Hunger Games!" Claudius's voice chimed perfectly, "The hovercraft will now take you back to The Capitol, please don't be alarmed!"

The familiar rush of air that came from the hovercraft fanned my hot skin. I had just killed someone - someone who had been my companion. I couldn't even think that he had been - lying piece of scum.

A ladder fell from the hovercraft, beckoning me inside. Forcing myself to grab on, I took one last look at David's pale corpse,

"Goodbye, David," I blew a kiss, before being lifted into the hovercraft, hot tears falling down my cheeks.

Inside, Johanna and Gregoire greeted me along with about five Capitol workers. I didn't say a thing, I just allowed them to take me to a completely white room with a bed, three more workers, and a ton of machines that didn't look very engaging,

"Please take a seat,"

I did as they said, sitting on the bed. I was too upset to cry, too irate to say a thing. I couldn't tell you how much I just wanted to die.

Instead, I was injected with some Capitol drug, and almost instantly fell asleep.

When I woke up, nothing seemed to register. My skin had been cleaned of injuries, I had been bathed, my hair was plumper around my shoulders. I had been stripped out of my arena clothes and bandanna, and forced into a purple dress that had been padded around my chest and waist. It was probably to hide the fact I'd been starving for about a month,

"Now," Gregoire stepped into the room, "Caesar will interview you, please try to act normal. I know your world has literally ended, but unless you want your whole family dead you've got to pass this. Act humble again, and tell the audience how heartbreaking it was,"

I nodded, not daring to disagree with anyone. I just wanted to go home and sulk for the rest of my life. I would never love anyone again. I would die alone, no matter what anyone said.

I hadn't observed that I looked completely different. I seemed to have aged about three years - not caring a single bit.

I had been inside the Capitol, and was then led to the same stage as the interviews by Gregoire and Johanna. Johanna hadn't spoken to me; I wondered if she had felt the same way I was feeling when she had left the arena.

Music almost ruptured my ear drums as I was forced to step out on to the stage, at the top of some stairs. I found it complicated just to take one step, let alone about twenty. Luckily, Caesar seemed to have guessed this and helped me down to the stage. The crowd began encouraging me, citizens at the front threw roses on to the stage. The flowers reminded me of Anise,

"Welcome back, Adalyn! It's a pleasure to see you again!" Caesar let me sit down by myself, and then sat back in his own chair, "How are you, Adalyn?"

I put on a disappointed expression, furrowing my brow,

"I don't think I can describe that," I forced myself to laugh weakly, which seemed to feel like the deadliest sin I could commit, "My brother was killed by my closest friend, and I had to watch people die. I don't think any of you will ever understand what that's like,"

The crowd began giving me their sympathy,

"Well, Adalyn," Caesar rubbed his hands together, "Let's show everyone your best bits!"

A screen behind me flashed with the seal of The Capitol. I saw the cornucopia - Hayleigh blowing up next to me. The canon firing, signalling us to run. I couldn't tell you how hard it was to watch - I just wanted to get out of there and back home as soon as possible.

I pretended to watch the rest, until it came to the final three. I once again saw Dylan plunge his sword into David, and me rushing to his side. My appalling language had been censored, in case any younger children were watching. I found that sickly amusing - small things like that were hidden, but not the blood, gore, tears and painful murders.

The crowd cheered when the seal once again showed up on the screen, and Caesar began cooing,

"I couldn't ever imagine what you've been through, my darling. I only hope the life you have ahead of you that has been well fought for, is full of wonderful things. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the newest Victor from District Seven - Adalyn Farron!"

The audience began screaming my name, throwing up hats, flowers, whatever they held. I couldn't even force a smile - anything positive that I did made me feel sick.

The lights of the stage dimmed, and I was led off to meet Gregoire and Johanna one more time before being taken back home, back to my life in District Seven where nothing would ever be the same.

_Not ever_.


	21. Epilogue

Epilogue

Three years after I participated in the games, a girl named Katniss Everdeen ended the games for good. If I hadn't been reaped when I was, if David hadn't either, I would never have had to suffer the drama that was the Games. I would never have had to witness my brother die.

I am now thirty six years old. I participated in the Seventy Second Hunger games twenty two years ago, yet the memories haunt me to this day. I am watching my son, David, who has just turned seven. I also have a daughter named Emma, who is three. She is lying in my lap, picking at a daisy.

I have done as David had requested - I married Jason, who was Karl Walker's brother. In a way, he understands how I feel. When I had returned to District Seven, he had supported me through my breakdowns and bad days. Though he was in the grade above me, we remained determined friends. When he asked me to date him, I honestly didn't want to. I thought he would remind me of the Games - he didn't, weirdly. Whenever I remember my time in the arena, he supports me. Whenever I cry for my brother, he is there instead. Someone has sent him for me, and I am sure it was David, my angel watching over me. I wish he was here, the pain hasn't dampened at all after all these years.

Jason is playing with our son, who inherited Jason's hazel eyes and my scarlet hair. I'm laughing; he just fell over into Jason's affectionate arms, and is now being spun around.

My mother and father have never been the same since the Games, and I don't blame them. I still speak to them, but rarely, as naming my son after my brother makes them upset whenever they see him. I can only hope one day they will recover.

Jason is now smiling at me, just the way Karl smiled when he got an answer correct in our English class. Is it strange that I remember that?

I am holding Emma tightly as I walk over to my family. The perfect family David gave me. I am forever thankful to Katniss Everdeen, the girl who saved my children from the games.

Only, she was a bit too late to save us all.

_**I would like to dedicate this to my friends, who I based the characters upon. Without all your whining and nagging, I probably wouldn't have finished this as it is incredibly depressing to write about you dying. Love you guys!**_

_**Anyways, that's a wrap!**_


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